Government
Former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan Convicted of Conspiracy, Bribery and Wire Fraud
Longest-serving state house speaker acquitted of racketeering, but faces stiff sentence for bribery and conspiracy counts involving ComEd, AT&T
Flanked by supporters and holding hands with his daughter. Nicole, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan walks out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago, Wednesday, Feb. 12. Photo by Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via the Associated Press
A federal jury rendered a split verdict against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, convicting him of 10 counts including conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud, involving utilities Commonwealth Edison and AT&T, and deadlocking on six counts, including a racketeering charge, and acquitting him on seven other counts.
The jury was deadlocked after 10 days of deliberations on all six counts against Madigan's co-defendant, Michael McClain, a longtime lobbyist and former state legislator referred to throughout the more-than-three-month trial as Madigan's fixer, confidant and gatekeeper.
The bribery and conspiracy charges involved bills Madigan had assisted with passing or were related to favors he sought from the utilities, such as internships for students from his southwest Chicago ward or lucrative jobs for former legislative allies, in exchange for assistance of passage of legislation favorable to ComEd.
ComEd's former CEO, Anne Pramaggiore, was convicted in a separate trial involving favors done for Madigan and McClain. The former general counsel for the electrical utility, Thomas O'Neill, testified against Madigan when he took the stand at McClain's trial that began last October.
Several of the guilty counts against Madigan carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. No date has yet been set for the 82-year-old's sentencing. The convictions are a steep fall for Madigan, who was the longest-serving legislative leader in the history of the United States when he stepped down in 2021.
Madigan, a Democrat from Chicago's southwest side, first won his seat in Springfield in 1971 and secured the speaker's gavel in 1983. He held on to it for all but two years between 1983 and 2021 before losing the speaker election to current Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch, another Democrat. Republicans won the House in 1995 and held onto it until 1997 when Madigan returned to the speaker's office. He presided over the chamber for 36 total years.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Morris Pasqual said it was too soon to make a decision about a retrial on the deadlocked counts.
Madigan was portrayed by government attorneys throughout the trial as a politician willing to make deals that benefited himself and his associates in order to move legislation forward. In October 2022, under a deferred prosecution, AT&T admitted that it arranged for payments to then-Illinois Representative Edward Acevedo, a Madigan ally, in order to unlawfully influence and reward Madigan's vote in 2017 on legislation that would eliminate AT&T's "Carrier of Last Resort" obligation to provide landline telephone service to all Illinois residents, which was expected to save the company millions of dollars. Acevedo was later hired as a lobbyist by AT&T. Acevedo and other AT&T executives testified at the trial, many of them calling the "work" Acevedo did at the company comical. Madigan also helped to defeat an amendment to a bill that became law in 2018 regarding fees for small cell tower attachments that would have been harmful to AT&T.
ComEd, the electric utility, entered into a deferred prosecution with the government in 2020, paid a $200-million fine and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. O'Neill's testimony recounted how McClain, who was convicted last year with Pramaggiore and others in a separate trial, facilitated the advance of 2011 legislation to the House floor in exchange for a certain number of billable hours that ComEd paid to lobbyist Victor Reyes, internships for students from Madigan's ward and other political favors.
A failed land deal in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood was also among the bribery charges that Madigan was convicted of. Former Chicago Alderman Danny Soils wore a wire for the FBI, recorded Madigan in meetings and testified against Madigan in exchange for a plea deal of his own.
The 10 counts Madigan was convicted on include the ComEd-related bribery conspiracy charge, three bribery and travel act counts related to funneling payments to his associates and six wire fraud and travel act counts regarding a scheme to appoint Solis to a state board in exchange for Solis’ help steering business to Madigan’s private law firm.
"Bribery, whether it’s the old-fashioned cash stuffed in an envelope, or the more refined version practiced by Madigan, is still illegal, it’s still corrupt, it’s still against the law, and it still undermines the public’s confidence in government," Pasqual said after the verdict was read at the Everett McKinley Dirksen federal courthouse in Chicago.
While Madigan could face up to 20 years in prison for the most serious convictions on wire fraud, he will likely receive a lesser sentence due to his age and other factors.
