Prairie State Wire

Republican Congressional candidate James Marter is glad to see what he views as former House Speaker Mike Madigan's one-man crime wave finally come to an end.

"It's about time," Marter told the Prairie State Wire. "His crime wave finally caught up to him."

Ex-speaker Michael Madigan was indicted on 22 counts and accused of "nearly a decade" of running "a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan's political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates," according to a news release from the Chicago-area U.S. attorney's office. "The indictment alleges a long-term, multifaceted scheme to use public positions for unlawful gain, including no-show or low-show jobs for Madigan's political workers and private gain for Madigan himself," U.S. Attorney John Lausch, whose office led the investigation, said at a news conference.

Illinois legislators passed an ethics reform bill last year, which Gov. Pritzker signed in October. The Legislative Inspector General at the time, Carol Pope, announced her resignation in response to the bill.

ABC 20 reported that in her letter of resignation, Pope called the office of LIG a "paper tiger" and stated that the reform bill did not go far enough, and actually tied her hands more than they had been before. Pope told ABC 20, "I'm thinking that the legislature knows the limitations of the power of the LIG and that they want it that way. That's why I said I am a paper tiger. There are no real teeth to this legislation the way it is now."

Marter is running to represent the 14th Congressional District (McHenry, Oswego, Sycamore).