Prairie State Wire

The sweeping bribery probe into an influence operation connected to former House Speaker Michael Madigan has landed four on the doorstep of jail after jury deliberations came to an end late Tuesday. 

Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker along with Madigan’s right-hand man Michael McClain and lobbyist Jay Doherty, who previously ran the City Club of Chicago, were convicted of scheming to pay $1.3 million to Madigan-connected people and companies. 

As part of the scheme, ComEd provided jobs – some of which were no show – and contracts to those with connections to Madigan who at the time controlled the Democratic Party and had wielded power as the state’s most powerful politician as the longest serving state House Speaker in the nation. 

ComEd, the state’s largest utility, engaged in the scheme to influence Madigan in order to get preferential treatment in the state House. Prosecutors called the foursome "grandmasters of corruption.” ComEd paid a $200 million fine in July 2020 and admitted to the scheme. 

The trial lasted seven weeks. The sentences have not been decided yet for the four defendants. However, each faces fines as high as $5 million each and a maximum of 20 years in jail.

The 81-year-old Madigan was in power as House Speaker from 1983 to 1995 and then 1997 to 2021. He was an Illinois House member from 1971 to 2021 before stepping down amid scandal. He is charged in a separate filing of 23 counts of pubic corruption related to the ComEd scandal and is facing a single count of public corruption from a similar scheme with AT&T. 

Madigan is scheduled to go on trial in April 2024. Despite being under investigation, Madigan reportedly took part in the 2022 election campaign. Additionally, he transferred the last $10 million from his campaign budget to his defense fund.

“The defendants sought to bribe Mike Madigan in order to influence his actions in the General Assembly, to ensure that he didn’t take action to hurt the company in the General Assembly and to reward past beneficial conduct to ComEd in the general assembly with legislation that was worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker said in opening statements nearly two months ago.

Madigan controlled all incoming bills on the House floor during his time atop the legislative body. That gave him complete say on what bills would and would not be heard during legislative sessions.