The jury reached a partial verdict. Now what?
Thursday, Feb 13, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Click here to check out yesterday’s coverage. US Attorney’s Office…
A federal jury in Chicago [yesterday] convicted former Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives MICHAEL J. MADIGAN on conspiracy and bribery charges for using his official position to corruptly solicit and receive personal financial rewards for himself and his associates. […]
A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Each wire fraud count is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, while each bribery count is punishable by up to ten years. The maximum for conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and each count of using interstate facilities to promote unlawful activity is five years.
* Tribune Court Reporter Jason Meisner…
* ABC Chicago explained what will happen in the forfeiture hearing…
While Madigan’s defense team will undoubtedly appeal the verdict, he still faces a forfeiture hearing during which the judge will determine how much money he will need to fork over to the federal government.
And then, there is the sentencing. That is likely still several months away, but it is expected the judge will sentence him to serving at least some time in prison. How much will depend on a variety of factors, including how much of an example the government wants to make of him, but also his age. […]
He remains free on bond pending sentencing.
Yesterday when Madigan attorney Todd Pugh was asked about a potential appeal he said it was “too soon.”
* Courthouse News Service…
Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said “no decision has been made” on whether prosecutors would try to retry Madigan or McClain over the jury’s deadlock.
Presiding U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey, a Barack Obama appointee, in his own comments to attorneys prior to the verdict, said prosecutors could “let the dust settle” on the deadlocked counts before deciding if it’s worth it to retry them.
“Maybe it isn’t,” the judge quipped.
* Tribune…
In addition to deciding whether to retry Madigan on the deadlocked counts, prosecutors are scheduled to retry a related case against former AT&T Illinois boss Paul La Schiazza in June, after a different jury also failed to reach a verdict in his trial last year.
Also, a decision on whether the “ComEd Four” defendants — which includes McClain — will get a new trial is expected to come down any day.
- Stone Age - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 11:39 am:
The G should take the W. the more testimony they elicit, the more they risk muddying the various records for appeal.
- Sad - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 11:52 am:
I am thinking of the many former Illinois residents who opted to relocate from our state. When Michael J. Madigan assumed the role of Speaker of the House, Illinois had 22 seats in the US House. Now, Illinois is down to 17.
For years, the first property tax bill installment was fifty percent the last bill. Now, it is fifty-five percent and Illinois has some of the highest property taxes in the USA.
We need ethics reform that prohibits pols from practicing before the assessors and the property tax boards of review.
- Sue - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:01 pm:
The most corrupt action Madigan ever took was sinking any possibility of an honest legislative redistricting
- Streator Curmudgeon - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:04 pm:
I can’t recall an 82 year-old person being sentenced to prison for a nonviolent crime. Not that this would be a first, but I just can’t remember anyone that old getting jail time.
I’m not opposed to some jail time for Madigan, but people of that age have lots of health problems that must be treated regularly if they’re going to come out alive.
- low level - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:05 pm:
==For years, the first property tax bill installment was fifty percent the last bill. Now, it is fifty-five percent==
Right, and the 2nd installment is 45%. You left that part out. Did you forget or are you just dumb?
==sinking any possibility of an honest legislative redistricting==
So you feel the same way about Ron DeSanctimonious in Florida or that was all good since Republicans benefitted?
- Telly - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:08 pm:
I admire anyone who sits on a jury. But they have me a bit puzzled.
In the Chinatown and other law firm-related counts, there was evidence Madigan used his public office to enrich himself, but they mostly excused that. Instead, they convicted him on the ComEd counts, which involved a lot of unseemly political horse trading, but no attempt by Madigan to put a single penny in his pocket.
Maybe they cut Madigan slack on the land deals because they attached zero credibility to Solis, and maybe they wacked him on ComEd because it felt like he was conspiring with a utility to raise everyone’s electric bill. Who doesn’t hate that? Then again, they didn’t convict on the AT&T count even though the fact pattern was almost identical to the ComEd counts.
- Google Is Your Friend - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:11 pm:
- Sad - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 11:52 am:
Whoever is pouring out the drinks for Sad, I’ll have whatever they’re having!
- Demoralized - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:14 pm:
==honest legislative redistricting==
As soon as you issue this same call to Republicans doing the same thing in other states then maybe I’ll consider your rantings. Until then Illinois should absolutely not cede any ground to Republicans doing the same thing in their states. Why disarm yourself?
- JS Mill - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:15 pm:
=We need ethics reform=
=WHat Now?=
A presidential pardon and appointment as ambassador to Ireland probably. /mostly snark
I am with @Stone Age- the government should take their W and move on. Many, if not most, thought this day would never come. It did. MJM will be a convicted felon until his dying days.
=sinking any possibility of an honest legislative redistricting=
So literally every legislature in the nation as well.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:18 pm:
===A presidential pardon and appointment as ambassador to Ireland probably.===
I’m pretty sure that’s Ed Burke’s deal.
- Juice - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:23 pm:
Sad, the population of Illinois in 1980 was 11.4 million.
Regardless of what you think of the census bureau estimates, are current population is at least a million more people than that.
Telly, the Government didn’t really provide much evidence that Madigan was actually doing to take the work on that Chinatown deal other than what Solis recorded himself saying, while the defense presented evidence testimony from not Madigan that the firm never would have taken them on as a client. With Union West, the government presented evidence that indicated that Madigan told Solis to move forward with the zoning change prior to Madigan having the business lined up. I would presume that weighed pretty heavily with the jury.
- Arsenal - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:34 pm:
==I am thinking of the many former Illinois residents who opted to relocate from our state. When Michael J. Madigan assumed the role of Speaker of the House, Illinois had 22 seats in the US House. Now, Illinois is down to 17.==
This would make more sense if Congressional seats increased and decreased in a strict relationship with a state’s population, but they don’t. The House is capped at 435 members, so you can lose seats even if your population grows.
- Peoples Republic of Oak Park - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:36 pm:
I don’t think the verdict has changed anything other than the Feds finally reeled in their tuna. Politics hasn’t changed much since this happened other than the names on the doors.
- Lincoln Lad - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:45 pm:
The MJM team of insiders was a machine to enact his will - and it amazes me that they didn’t reach a guilty verdict on the racketeering charge. No one in today’s Springfield wields that amount of power and total control. I think a lot has changed.
- Frumpy White Guy - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:46 pm:
MJM will be 83 soon. Quite frankly, losing his elected office and law business is punishment enough. Putting an elderly person in prison serves no purpose.
- Amalia - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:46 pm:
they got a G on the former Speaker. they have other Gs. I’d not pursue further. But what is the Trump energy for going after Democrats? What will Rod share with him? Chicago/Illinois is their favorite poster child for what they think is wrong. any chance to punish/highlight the evil Dems is red meat for them.
- SWSider - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:49 pm:
I sincerely hope he’s retried on the other charges.
As others have pointed out, Illinois was a far more influential and powerful state in the union at the start of MJM than at the end. His whole political project was nothing more than vanity and ego.
If he has to spend his final years moving from a jail to a courthouse, I’m not sure it’s equal to the damage he did over the decades.
- Joe Bidenopolous - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 12:57 pm:
=I can’t recall an 82 year-old person being sentenced to prison for a nonviolent crime.=
I mean, maybe not 82 but Ed Burke was 80 when he was sentenced to prison last year.
- Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:15 pm:
==I can’t recall an 82 year-old person being sentenced to prison for a nonviolent crime.=
MJM ain’t just any person. To the Feds, for good or bad, he is a symbol of political corruption at the highest levels of Gov’t. I have no problem with a shortened sentence, but based on the massive corruption he committed against all residents of IL he needs to go away.
- Todd - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:17 pm:
not that he needs it, but are they gonna go after his pension?
- Henry Francis - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:18 pm:
I remember when George Ryan was convicted, everyone was saying how a clear message had been sent that the typical way of “doing business” in Illinois politics was over. That was almost 19 years ago.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:19 pm:
===are they gonna go after his pension?===
The feds could try to seize it, but my bet is that GARS and the AG will cancel it first. So, all the feds will get is the principal he paid in plus interest
- Just Me 2 - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:21 pm:
=== Putting an elderly person in prison serves no purpose. ===
So the lesson you want to teach is that it is okay to be a corrupt politician when you’re old?
I hope Madigan serves 5 years out of the same prison cell that Blagojevich served in.
- Pundent - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:22 pm:
=I can’t recall an 82 year-old person being sentenced to prison for a nonviolent crime.=
I believe Ed Vrdolyak was about this age when he began serving his most recent sentence for tax evasion. Of course being a repeat offender didn’t sit well with the court.
- Ares - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:23 pm:
Mr. Miller’s scenario about the benefits being cancelled, and the Feds seizing the principal, was what happened with Blago.
- Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:39 pm:
=GARS and the AG will cancel it first=
With MJM likely forfeiting the generous pension that he paid into for 35 plus years the actuarial burden of covering his retirement is gone, hopefully the funded ratio of GARS will increase just a bit. Another win for taxpayers.
- Lincoln Lad - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:42 pm:
I have no sympathy for the former Speaker. No sympathy, no mercy. Turnabout is fair play.
- Rounding Numbers and Bases - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:45 pm:
The whataboutism every time redistricting reform gets brought up is almost as old as the “Because Madigan” word salad.
If you want a clean house you have to start in one of the rooms and eventually get to cleaning the toilet.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:47 pm:
===hopefully the funded ratio of GARS will increase just a bit===
I’m guessing it may be more than just a bit.
- Red headed step child - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:48 pm:
Guilty..all that matters
- Annonin' - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:52 pm:
Mr/Ms Ares — pretty sure Blagoof never applied for the pension or his contribution.
- TNR - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 1:56 pm:
I’m curious to see what an appeal looks like.
I’m no lawyer, and I get that the law is a complicated thing. But I struggle to see how what Madigan was convicted of is much different than the conduct of Mayor Snyder in Portage, Indiana, or what Governor McDonnell did in Virginia. They both got their convictions overturned by the Supreme Court.
Don’t get me wrong, I think they all broke the law. But the Supreme Court has a different way of looking at these things. And they may double-down based on their own ethical foibles.
- Candy Dogood - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 2:08 pm:
Hope the Governor doesn’t draw too much attention to this. Trump seems the sort of awful to pardon someone just to “own the libs.”
===Governor McDonnell did in Virginia===
Receiving a watch is a very different then than making a company hire your friends to do nothing lobbyist jobs.
- Steve - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 2:10 pm:
-Putting an elderly person in prison serves no purpose.-
He was convicted of several counts. Being elderly isn’t a get out jail free card.
- Excessively Rabid - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 2:24 pm:
How old was Bill Cellini when he went away? Speaking of which, if a Republican president was going to pardon somebody from that era, you would think it might be him, not Blago. Birds of a feather, I suppose.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 2:34 pm:
===Putting an elderly person in prison serves no purpose===
It seems at times as if half the government is elderly people. You wanna give them all a free pass?
- Pundent - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 2:46 pm:
=Receiving a watch is a very different then than making a company hire your friends to do nothing lobbyist jobs.=
The decision to overturn the McDonnell conviction wasn’t as much about the gifts as it was the absence of “an official act.” It was also a unanimous decision. If you read Justice Roberts opinion you can see how it might extend to Madigan. And as noted above the court has its own challenges with similar conduct.
I always felt this case was being postured for appeal. And while purely speculative I also believe it had a lot to do with the decision to put Madigan on the stand.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 2:48 pm:
I did time with an elderly gentleman from Kentucky who celebrated his 80th birthday with a prison “Dip” party…he was sentenced to five years in prison for growing pot…just sayin’…I don’t believe the old dude ever committed a crime in his life.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 3:41 pm:
Give him 1 year in a halfway house
- TNR - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 3:48 pm:
== Receiving a watch is a very different then than making a company hire your friends to do nothing lobbyist jobs. ==
If it was just a watch, I’d might agree with you Candy. But it was $177,000 in gifts and “loans.” Using your office to line your pocket is every bit as bad as hooking up your pals with lobbying contracts, arguably worse.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 3:55 pm:
===arguably worse===
Definitely worse.
- Gravitas - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 4:09 pm:
Sometimes, I have wondered that if Madigan had simply retired a few years early if he could have dodged this bullet. While the Chinatown counts did not factor in the verdict (it’s too early to know if the Feds will ask for a retrial), some dialogue from “Chinatown” seems appropriate. Put Madigan in the role of Noah Cross:
How much are you worth?
I have no idea. How much do you want?
I just wanna know what you’re worth. More than 10 million?
Oh my, yes!
Why are you doing it? How much better can you eat? What could you buy that you can’t already afford?
The future, Mr. Gittes! The future.
- Just Me 2 - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 5:16 pm:
=== The New York Stock Exchange plans to move its Chicago equities exchange to Texas, the latest firm seeking a slice of the financial services industry in a state where the taxes are lower and regulation looser. ===
Another product of our state’s corruption. Instead of focusing on the state’s economy, all the pols did was focus on their lobbyist friends.
- Excitable Boy - Thursday, Feb 13, 25 @ 5:23 pm:
- Sometimes, I have wondered that if Madigan had simply retired a few years early if he could have dodged this bullet. -
You don’t see John Cullerton in any of these stories.