Guilty verdict in 'ComEd 4' trial is likely to be bad news for Mike Madigan
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The conviction of the four ComEd federal bribery case defendants Tuesday is not likely to be good news for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller noted.
Former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, retired ComEd vice president John Hooker, and former ComEd consultant Jay Doherty were found guilty on each and every count of a nine-count indictment accusing them of conspiracy, bribery, and falsifying documents.
Federal prosecutors accused the defendants of using their influence to reward Madigan and his associates for about eight years beginning in 2011, in order to ensure Madigan would help them pass legislation beneficial to ComEd. Defendant McClain is also a close Madigan confidant.
Madigan is set to go on trial himself next year. He and ComEd defendant McClain are facing a separate federal indictment charging them with racketeering, conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud, most of which carry up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted.
They are accused of a bribery scheme involving multiple businesses - including ComEd - in which the businesses paid Madigan's associates as a reward for their loyalty to Madigan.
Miller said Madigan was certainly paying close attention to what happened in the ComEd Four trial.
"I suspect if he doesn't have a heart-to-heart with his lawyer tonight, I think they'll have that conversation with his lawyer tomorrow in trying to decide what their strategy is as far as going ahead with this case," Miller said, "and also, it'll be interesting to see if anything happens with respect to any other witnesses that now come forward that are willing to testify against Michael Madigan that may not have been willing to do that before – and I'm specifically speaking about some of the defendants in this particular case that were guilty today."
If any of the ComEd defendants do flip and testify against Madigan, it will be even worse for the former speaker – who is charged with more serious crimes than the ComEd defendants were.
"Their value will be immense, because their testimony will be corroborated by other evidence – including, as I said, their own voices talking to the former speaker; talking about emails, text messages, things like that. You know, it's a matter of time," Miller said. "Something has to happen, because this trial is actually scheduled for April 1 of 2024, and he's facing more charges that these four defendants have been charged with and convicted of."
Jurors Tuesday said Madigan's relationship with the defendants crossed the line from legitimate lobbying into illegal bribery. While Madigan was not a defendant in this case, the jury heard him on recorded phone calls and heard the four defendants talk about him and what he meant to ComEd. This was something that made a real difference to the jury, as one juror said after the verdict was read.
"I don't want to speak for the whole jury about Madigan, we tried not to discuss him as far as outside of this case. But his involvement with this case, of course, was key – and our perception was that he really did cause this all to happen," said juror Amanda Schnitker Sayers. "If it wouldn't have been for him, these people would not have been in this position they would need to commit crimes in the first place."
More than a year before Madigan was indicted, ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, admitting the company sought to influence Madigan by arranging for his allies and people who performed political work for him to obtain jobs, contracts and payments from ComEd between 2011 and 2019.
Months after the initial indictment, federal prosecutors added another charge to the case, accusing them of scheming with AT&T to arrange for a $22,500 payment to a Madigan ally in exchange for the speaker's influence over legislation that would benefit the telephone company. Former AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza also has been indicted for his role in the conspiracy, and AT&T has agreed to pay a $23 million fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the feds.
Madigan resigned his seat as a state representative in February 2021, more than a year before his indictment, and little more than a month after surrendering the gavel as Speaker of the Illinois House amid increased scrutiny over the related federal cases. He also resigned as Illinois Democratic Party chairman.
Madigan lost his seat as Illinois House Speaker only after he was implicated in ComEd's deferred prosecution agreement. Madigan was the longest-serving state house speaker in U.S. history at the time, having been speaker since 1983.
