Gov. Pat Quinn is supporting his prisons director after a Republican challenger called for the director to be fired.
Sen. Kirk Dillard is a GOP candidate for governor. He said Wednesday that Democrat Quinn should fire S.A. ``Tony'' Godinez for hiring a man with arrests and apparent one-time gang ties.
Dillard says it's ``outrageous'' that ex-gang members are ``running the prisons.''
Xadrian McCraven was an $111,000-a-year senior policy adviser to the Department of Corrections' parole chief before he was fired Friday.
Brooke Anderson is Quinn's spokeswoman. She says Quinn took quick action when alerted to McCraven's status and McCraven had no ``management or security duties.''
The Chicago Sun-Times reported on McCraven's job despite his arrest record and a Chicago police background check that found former gang ties.
