TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- On Wednesday, Illinois is expected to have a new distinction: Just one former governor will be serving time in federal prison.

George H. Ryan is expected to be released from the federal prison camp here and moved to a halfway house on Chicago's West Side. His family and close friends made clear on Tuesday that an effort was afoot to avoid memorializing his departure from prison, where by midday, a horde of media already were staged.

Rod Blagojevich, the other governor behind bars, is serving out a far lengthier sentence -- 14 years, which he began less than a year ago.

Read more: George Ryan to leave prison for halfway house