The man many have called a corrupt politician’s worst nightmare came to campus Thursday.

Pat Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, spoke of public service, the duties of a prosecutor and fighting corruption to an audience of several hundred people.

Fitzgerald’s investigation of corruption within Gov. George Ryan’s administration led to the governor’s indictment and prison sentence. A more recent case spearheaded by Fitzgerald involved Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former Chief of Staff.

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Libby had been found guilty of false statements, perjury and obstruction of justice. President Bush would later pardon Libby. Additional case involvements included the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and an investigation into the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, which were organized by Osama bin Laden.

Fitzgerald said public service is not sacrifice but rather rewarding. He said while in school one should think about public service and keep all options open. Public service, he said, needn’t be full time.

“People should live life frugally,” Fitzgerald said. “People should do what they want to do (for a living) … everyone should take a stand against corruption.”

Fitzgerald said corruption remains a problem in Illinois, but that private citizens play the largest role in uncovering corruption and need to confront it head-on.

“Solution comes from citizens,” he said. “Hope isn’t solely with law enforcement, but people coming forward. It is critical. And people are tired of (corruption).”

Matt Baughman, assistant director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, which sponsored of the event, said Fitzgerald has done an excellent job in rooting out corruption, including playing a key role in bringing down the Gambino family in New York.

“Corruption in politics should not be tolerated,” Baughman said. “We have an obligation to prevent it from happening. We should never be suspicious of good things.”

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Fitzgerald said a prosecutor’s job is not necessarily to send people to jail, but to do the right thing each and every day. He said it is one of the few jobs in the world a person can have and wake up in the morning knowing they will do the right thing.

“The 93 U.S. attorney offices are like ships in a navy,” he said. “Each ship needs to do its job and do what it thinks is right.”

Some students in attendance were unaware of who exactly Fitzgerald was and had different reasons for attending.

Tim Smerken, a senior from Murphysboro studying administration of justice, said he was interested in what Fitzgerald had to say about corruption, but said he needed his arm pulled in coming.

“My mom made me go. She wanted me to come see him,” he said.

Tim McGovern can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254 or [email protected].