Latest news with #ComEd
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Editorial: The sad application of justice in the Michael Madigan saga
In the end, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey chose to send a stern message with his 7.5-year prison sentence of Michael J. Madigan, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. Madigan — for decades the most powerful politician in Illinois, the state that gave this nation its greatest president — will have to spend more than six years of that term at a minimum under federal rules, even assuming good behavior. The former Illinois House speaker is 83, so the likelihood of his dying while in confinement is considerable. A human tragedy is self-evident. But that doesn't make Blakey's sentence unjust. Madigan admitted no wrongdoing in his own short statement before the judge handed down the sentence. The closest he came was saying, 'I'm not perfect.' We wonder whether there was a legal strategy behind such obstinance given near-certain appeals of the verdict as to how federal law was applied to Madigan's conduct. A tactical reasoning may have been behind Madigan's rejection of the courtroom contrition that might otherwise have trimmed his sentence. We'll find out in due course. Speaking of the 16th president of the United States, Blakey referenced Abraham Lincoln before he sentenced Madigan: 'It's really hard to be Honest Abe right? He's a unicorn in our American history. Being great is hard. But being honest is not. Being honest is actually very easy. It's hard to commit crimes.' And the evidence showed that Madigan did indeed work hard in hatching and executing the schemes that a jury of Madigan's peers concluded were felonies. The justice behind this sentence reflects how Madigan ran this state for so long, his unprincipled grip on power, and the price we all will pay for many years to come for the financial malpractice he left in his expansive wake. The former House speaker was convicted on multiple corruption-related counts based mainly on his brazenly corrupt dealings with Commonwealth Edison in the 2010s, but there's little doubt the modus operandi he used to help ComEd and parent Exelon rake in billions from ratepayers was in place for far longer than the eight years on which federal prosecutors focused. Those eight years were just the period wherein the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office pressured former Ald. Danny Solis to wear a wire and capture damning interactions with Madigan (and powerhouse Ald. Edward Burke, who is serving time as we write) and tapped the cellphone of Madigan confidant and right-hand man Michael McClain, for years ComEd's lead outside lobbyist. Even people inside ComEd would refer to McClain as a 'double agent,' serving Madigan as much or more than the company that was paying him. McClain was caught on wiretaps saying that Madigan was his one, true client. The corruption caught on those intercepted calls and in a few videos taken by cooperating co-conspirators was just as ugly as those who battled Madigan politically (and usually lost) and those who criticized his stranglehold on state government (such as this page) always had imagined it would be. The plotting. The fixation on rewarding political soldiers with no-work arrangements. The frequent demands on a compromised and beholden company to perform the patronage function local government used to provide before courts put the kibosh on the practice. The public was made privy to all. And who paid to keep the Madigan machine running? Anyone paying taxes. Anyone paying an electric bill. That is, just about everyone in this state. Judge Blakey's agreement with prosecutors that Madigan lied when he took the witness stand in his own defense suggested there would be no mercy forthcoming. Blakey even went so far as to call Madigan's lies 'a nauseating display.' We marveled in January, witnessing Madigan's testimony, how he depicted McClain as just one friend among a sizable coterie of loyalists when anyone who'd sat through Madigan's trial (and the 2023 'ComEd Four' trial in which McClain was convicted) knew full well that McClain and Madigan were extremely close. Madigan had a strategic reason to distance himself from his supremely loyal friend, who evidence showed acted as Madigan's agent in his dealings with ComEd and others in Springfield, even the Democratic lawmakers who typically followed Madigan's orders. Once he was convicted, Madigan's betrayal of McClain served to exacerbate his crimes in the judge's eyes. After a jury convicted Madigan in February on 10 of 23 counts (on the remainder he was acquitted or jurors couldn't agree), we held out hope that the former speaker's downfall would spell the end of corruption on the scale that he practiced in Illinois. We still hold fast to that hope and belief, while of course acknowledging that graft and corruption, albeit on a less ambitious scale always will be a part of our politics and governance as long as human nature exists. But this prison sentence should serve as a clear deterrent for any future political Svengali wanting to follow in Madigan's footsteps. Michael J. Madigan had myriad political skills, as a parade of governors whom he watched come and go all would attest. To the very end, Madigan ran the playbook of his mentor, Mayor Richard J. Daley, written in an era when the Democratic machine was the accepted way of political life in Chicago and Illinois. We feel sorry for Madigan and his family. But we applaud this firm and final repudiation of the 'Velvet Hammer's' brand of politics. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@
Chicago Tribune
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: The sad application of justice in the Michael Madigan saga
In the end, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey chose to send a stern message with his 7.5-year prison sentence of Michael J. Madigan, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. Madigan — for decades the most powerful politician in Illinois, the state that gave this nation its greatest president — will have to spend more than six years of that term at a minimum under federal rules, even assuming good behavior. The former Illinois House speaker is 83, so the likelihood of his dying while in confinement is considerable. A human tragedy is self-evident. But that doesn't make Blakey's sentence unjust. Madigan admitted no wrongdoing in his own short statement before the judge handed down the sentence. The closest he came was saying, 'I'm not perfect.' We wonder whether there was a legal strategy behind such obstinance given near-certain appeals of the verdict as to how federal law was applied to Madigan's conduct. A tactical reasoning may have been behind Madigan's rejection of the courtroom contrition that might otherwise have trimmed his sentence. We'll find out in due course. Speaking of the 16th president of the United States, Blakey referenced Abraham Lincoln before he sentenced Madigan: 'It's really hard to be Honest Abe right? He's a unicorn in our American history. Being great is hard. But being honest is not. Being honest is actually very easy. It's hard to commit crimes.' And the evidence showed that Madigan did indeed work hard in hatching and executing the schemes that a jury of Madigan's peers concluded were felonies. The justice behind this sentence reflects how Madigan ran this state for so long, his unprincipled grip on power, and the price we all will pay for many years to come for the financial malpractice he left in his expansive wake. The former House speaker was convicted on multiple corruption-related counts based mainly on his brazenly corrupt dealings with Commonwealth Edison in the 2010s, but there's little doubt the modus operandi he used to help ComEd and parent Exelon rake in billions from ratepayers was in place for far longer than the eight years on which federal prosecutors focused. Those eight years were just the period wherein the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office pressured former Ald. Danny Solis to wear a wire and capture damning interactions with Madigan (and powerhouse Ald. Edward Burke, who is serving time as we write) and tapped the cellphone of Madigan confidant and right-hand man Michael McClain, for years ComEd's lead outside lobbyist. Even people inside ComEd would refer to McClain as a 'double agent,' serving Madigan as much or more than the company that was paying him. McClain was caught on wiretaps saying that Madigan was his one, true client. The corruption caught on those intercepted calls and in a few videos taken by cooperating co-conspirators was just as ugly as those who battled Madigan politically (and usually lost) and those who criticized his stranglehold on state government (such as this page) always had imagined it would be. The plotting. The fixation on rewarding political soldiers with no-work arrangements. The frequent demands on a compromised and beholden company to perform the patronage function local government used to provide before courts put the kibosh on the practice. The public was made privy to all. And who paid to keep the Madigan machine running? Anyone paying taxes. Anyone paying an electric bill. That is, just about everyone in this state. Judge Blakey's agreement with prosecutors that Madigan lied when he took the witness stand in his own defense suggested there would be no mercy forthcoming. Blakey even went so far as to call Madigan's lies 'a nauseating display.' We marveled in January, witnessing Madigan's testimony, how he depicted McClain as just one friend among a sizable coterie of loyalists when anyone who'd sat through Madigan's trial (and the 2023 'ComEd Four' trial in which McClain was convicted) knew full well that McClain and Madigan were extremely close. Madigan had a strategic reason to distance himself from his supremely loyal friend, who evidence showed acted as Madigan's agent in his dealings with ComEd and others in Springfield, even the Democratic lawmakers who typically followed Madigan's orders. Once he was convicted, Madigan's betrayal of McClain served to exacerbate his crimes in the judge's eyes. After a jury convicted Madigan in February on 10 of 23 counts (on the remainder he was acquitted or jurors couldn't agree), we held out hope that the former speaker's downfall would spell the end of corruption on the scale that he practiced in Illinois. We still hold fast to that hope and belief, while of course acknowledging that graft and corruption, albeit on a less ambitious scale always will be a part of our politics and governance as long as human nature exists. But this prison sentence should serve as a clear deterrent for any future political Svengali wanting to follow in Madigan's footsteps. Michael J. Madigan had myriad political skills, as a parade of governors whom he watched come and go all would attest. To the very end, Madigan ran the playbook of his mentor, Mayor Richard J. Daley, written in an era when the Democratic machine was the accepted way of political life in Chicago and Illinois. We feel sorry for Madigan and his family. But we applaud this firm and final repudiation of the 'Velvet Hammer's' brand of politics.
New York Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Once-Powerful Illinois Democrat Sentenced to 7.5 Years in Prison
Michael J. Madigan, once among the most powerful figures in Illinois politics, was sentenced on Friday to 7.5 years in prison and a $2.5 million fine for his role in a bribery scheme born of the old Chicago political machine, which traded government access and contracts for jobs and favors. Mr. Madigan, a Democrat, was convicted in federal court in February of 10 criminal counts that included conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud. The jury in the case, which deliberated for 11 days, delivered a split verdict, acquitting him on seven more charges he faced, including attempted extortion. He has denied any wrongdoing, and testified during the trial that he was simply trying to help his constituents. On Friday, Mr. Madigan addressed the court before the sentence was read. 'I'm truly sorry for putting the people of the state of Illinois through this,' he said. 'I tried to do my best. I am not perfect.' Before reading the sentence, Judge John Robert Blakey of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois admonished Mr. Madigan, saying that he gave false testimony during the trial as 'part of a willful attempt to mislead the jury.' 'You lied,' he said. 'You did not have to. You had a right to sit there and exercise your right to silence. But you took that stand and you took the law into your own hands.' Mr. Madigan, 83, was indicted in March 2022, accused of soliciting bribes from Commonwealth Edison, an electrical utility known as ComEd. Prosecutors said the utility hired associates of Mr. Madigan as subcontractors who performed little or no work, in exchange for his support of state legislation that benefited the company. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan arrives at federal court for sentencing in corruption case
CHICAGO — Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan arrived Friday at the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago for his historic sentencing in a long-running corruption case that shook the state's political world to the core. Madigan, 83, who for years was widely hailed as the most powerful politician in the state, gave a slight smile as he strode past a horde of television news cameras with his lawyers and family members without comment. Carrying a briefcase and umbrella, he then headed to the 12th floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey, who is scheduled to begin the hearing at 1 p.m. The hearing is expected to last two hours or more. With seating limited in Blakey's courtroom, an overflow courtroom has been set up on the courthouse's 17th floor. Before hearing arguments, Blakey must first determine the sentencing guidelines in the case, though it's no longer mandatory for him to follow them. It's unclear whether Madigan's team intends to call live witnesses on his behalf, but before the judge imposes the sentence, the famously taciturn former speaker will be given a chance to make a statement of his own. It's the most highly anticipated sentencing in a Chicago public corruption case since former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich more than a decade ago, and U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey has a wide range of options at his disposal. The difference between the recommendations of the two sides is stark. Prosecutors have asked for 12 ½ years in prison, while the ex-speaker's team requested five years of probation, with the first year on home confinement. One big question is whether the letters Blakey received on Madigan's behalf will help persuade him to go easy on the longest-serving speaker in American history. Under the federal rules, the judge must also balance the seriousness of the crime and the need for deterrence, both for Madigan and others who might be tempted to commit similar acts, with the ex-speaker's background, personal traits, family history and other good works. In justifying a lengthy prison sentence, prosecutors have argued Madigan used his public office to increase his power, line his own pockets and enrich a small circle of his most loyal associates. Madigan's legal team, meanwhile, have stressed his age and lifetime of public service, saying that he is a good man whose name was dragged through the mud and will forever be branded as a felon. After a trial that stretched nearly four months, Madigan was convicted by a jury Feb. 12 on bribery conspiracy and other corruption charges The jury found him guilty on 10 of 23 counts, including one count of conspiracy related to a multipronged scheme to accept and solicit bribes from utility giant Commonwealth Edison. Jurors also convicted him on two counts of bribery and one Travel Act violation related to payments funneled to Madigan associates for do-nothing ComEd subcontracts. Madigan also was convicted on six out of seven counts — including wire fraud and Travel Act violations — regarding a plan to get ex-Ald. Daniel Solis, a key FBI mole who testified at length in the trial, appointed to a state board. But after 11 days of deliberation, the jury's final verdict was mixed, deadlocking on several counts — including the marquee racketeering conspiracy charge — and acquitting Madigan on numerous others. Jurors also deadlocked on all six counts related to Madigan's co-defendant, Michael McClain. The verdict capped one of the most significant political corruption investigations in Chicago's sordid history. It also cemented an extraordinary personal fall for Madigan, the longest-serving state legislative leader in the nation's history, who for decades held an iron-tight grip on the House as well as the state Democratic Party. It was a case many thought would never be made. Madigan, a savvy lawyer and old-school practitioner of Democratic machine politics, famously eschewed cell phones and email, and stayed largely above the fray while dozens of his colleagues were hauled off to prison over the years. Ultimately, it took Solis's extraordinary cooperation, including wearing a hidden wire in meetings with Madigan, along with an FBI wiretap on Madigan's longtime confidant, Michael McClain, to break the case open, leading to a series of indictments and pay-to-play allegations against two major utilities, Commonwealth Edison and AT&T Illinois, and more than a dozen other individuals. Madigan held the speakership for all but two years from 1983 until 2021. Along with ruling the House, Madigan chaired the Illinois Democratic Party from 1998 until 2021, resigning both his House seat and the party post after he lost the speakership. Madigan's hold on the House Democratic caucus started loosening in the wake of a series of explosive sexual harassment cases involving misbehaving aides in 2018, including longtime chief of staff Tim Mapes. But the momentum picked up speed in July 2020 when the U.S. attorney's office reached a deferred prosecution agreement with ComEd, which acknowledged trying to influence Madigan by showering his pals and associates with do-nothing contracts, legal work and a seat on the ComEd board of directors. While ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine, the biggest political marker in the agreement was that Madigan was referenced clearly when the court document called the speaker of the House 'Public Official A.' McClain and three others were indicted in the separate ComEd Four case four months later. Sentencings in that case, which have been delayed for more than a year due to fallout from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the federal bribery statute, are now expected to unfold in July and August. ______
Chicago Tribune
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan arrives at federal court for sentencing in corruption case
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan arrived Friday at the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago for his historic sentencing in a long-running corruption case that shook the state's political world to the core. Madigan, 83, who for years was widely hailed as the most powerful politician in the state, gave a slight smile as he strode past a horde of television news cameras with his lawyers and family members without comment. Carrying a briefcase and umbrella, he then headed to the 12th floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey, who is scheduled to begin the hearing at 1 p.m. The hearing is expected to last two hours or more. With seating limited in Blakey's courtroom, an overflow courtroom has been set up on the courthouse's 17th floor. Before hearing arguments, Blakey must first determine the sentencing guidelines in the case, though it's no longer mandatory for him to follow them. It's unclear whether Madigan's team intends to call live witnesses on his behalf, but before the judge imposes the sentence, the famously taciturn former speaker will be given a chance to make a statement of his own. It's the most highly anticipated sentencing in a Chicago public corruption case since former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich more than a decade ago, and U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey has a wide range of options at his disposal. The difference between the recommendations of the two sides is stark. Prosecutors have asked for 12 ½ years in prison, while the ex-speaker's team requested five years of probation, with the first year on home confinement. One big question is whether the letters Blakey received on Madigan's behalf will help persuade him to go easy on the longest-serving speaker in American history. Under the federal rules, the judge must also balance the seriousness of the crime and the need for deterrence, both for Madigan and others who might be tempted to commit similar acts, with the ex-speaker's background, personal traits, family history and other good works. In justifying a lengthy prison sentence, prosecutors have argued Madigan used his public office to increase his power, line his own pockets and enrich a small circle of his most loyal associates. Madigan's legal team, meanwhile, have stressed his age and lifetime of public service, saying that he is a good man whose name was dragged through the mud and will forever be branded as a felon. After a trial that stretched nearly four months, Madigan was convicted by a jury Feb. 12 on bribery conspiracy and other corruption charges The jury found him guilty on 10 of 23 counts, including one count of conspiracy related to a multipronged scheme to accept and solicit bribes from utility giant Commonwealth Edison. Jurors also convicted him on two counts of bribery and one Travel Act violation related to payments funneled to Madigan associates for do-nothing ComEd subcontracts. Madigan also was convicted on six out of seven counts — including wire fraud and Travel Act violations — regarding a plan to get ex-Ald. Daniel Solis, a key FBI mole who testified at length in the trial, appointed to a state board. But after 11 days of deliberation, the jury's final verdict was mixed, deadlocking on several counts — including the marquee racketeering conspiracy charge — and acquitting Madigan on numerous others. Jurors also deadlocked on all six counts related to Madigan's co-defendant, Michael McClain. The verdict capped one of the most significant political corruption investigations in Chicago's sordid history. It also cemented an extraordinary personal fall for Madigan, the longest-serving state legislative leader in the nation's history, who for decades held an iron-tight grip on the House as well as the state Democratic Party. It was a case many thought would never be made. Madigan, a savvy lawyer and old-school practitioner of Democratic machine politics, famously eschewed cell phones and email, and stayed largely above the fray while dozens of his colleagues were hauled off to prison over the years. Ultimately, it took Solis's extraordinary cooperation, including wearing a hidden wire in meetings with Madigan, along with an FBI wiretap on Madigan's longtime confidant, Michael McClain, to break the case open, leading to a series of indictments and pay-to-play allegations against two major utilities, Commonwealth Edison and AT&T Illinois, and more than a dozen other individuals. Madigan held the speakership for all but two years from 1983 until 2021. Along with ruling the House, Madigan chaired the Illinois Democratic Party from 1998 until 2021, resigning both his House seat and the party post after he lost the speakership. Madigan's hold on the House Democratic caucus started loosening in the wake of a series of explosive sexual harassment cases involving misbehaving aides in 2018, including longtime chief of staff Tim Mapes. But the momentum picked up speed in July 2020 when the U.S. attorney's office reached a deferred prosecution agreement with ComEd, which acknowledged trying to influence Madigan by showering his pals and associates with do-nothing contracts, legal work and a seat on the ComEd board of directors. While ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine, the biggest political marker in the agreement was that Madigan was referenced clearly when the court document called the speaker of the House 'Public Official A.' McClain and three others were indicted in the separate ComEd Four case four months later. Sentencings in that case, which have been delayed for more than a year due to fallout from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the federal bribery statute, are now expected to unfold in July and August.
