5 months in the past, the person lengthy recognized to Illinois as “Mr. Speaker” made the gorgeous choice to climb onto the witness stand, swear an oath and inform his facet of the story.
However alongside the way in which, Michael J. Madigan denied his well-known friendship with the fixer referred to as Michael McClain. He denied a promise he made to the once-powerful Ald. Danny Solis. And he denied his position in a bribery scheme by which Illinois’ largest utility tried to purchase his favor.
And it seems, U.S. District Decide John Blakey didn’t purchase it.
“To place it bluntly, it was a nauseating show,” the choose mentioned through the former speaker’s long-anticipated sentencing listening to Friday.
Then, the choose locked eyes with Madigan, the person as soon as considered the state’s strongest politician. Blakey seemed down at him from the bench and mentioned, “you lied, sir. You lied.”
“You didn’t should,” Blakey continued. “You had a proper to take a seat there and train your proper to silence. However you took that stand and also you took the regulation into your individual arms.”
Then, Blakey gave Madigan 7 ½ years in jail and a $2.5 million high quality — one of many harshest public corruption sentences Chicago has seen in years. The Southwest Aspect Democrat who turned the longest-serving state Home chief within the nation is due in jail Oct. 13.
The sentence is greater than triple that given final 12 months to former Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke. It surpasses the 6 ½-year sentence handed in 2006 to ex-Gov. George Ryan. However it fell wanting the 12 ½ years prosecutors sought, or the 14 years as soon as given to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Throughout Friday’s listening to, Assistant U.S. Lawyer Sarah Streicker defined to the choose, “governors, they got here and went through the years.
“However Madigan stayed,” she mentioned, “His energy and his presence remained fixed. He had each alternative to set the usual for sincere authorities. However as a substitute … he match proper into the mould of one more corrupt chief in Illinois.”
Madigan, 83, might be almost 90 by the point he’s served his sentence. However his struggle for freedom clearly isn’t over. His attorneys instructed the choose they hope to maintain Madigan out of jail whereas he appeals his conviction.
Regardless of the hefty sentence, Madigan had a smile on his face as he walked to an elevator close to Blakey’s Twelfth-floor courtroom on the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. When he reached the foyer, he walked briskly previous reporters, clutching an umbrella and briefcase as a daughter and legal professionals walked by his facet.
The slight smile remained.
One other of Madigan’s daughters, former Illinois Lawyer Common Lisa Madigan, was noticeably absent from the courthouse Friday afternoon.
It’s not clear what sort of sentence Blakey would have handed down had he not concluded that Madigan lied on the witness stand. However it’s actually exceptional that Madigan’s personal phrases might have been his undoing.
Regardless of holding the title of “Mr. Speaker,” Madigan was famously guarded and revealed few particulars of his private life as he spent 36 years main the Illinois Home of Representatives.
That’s, till he took the witness stand in January.
When he did so, Blakey mentioned Madigan lied to the jury. Repeatedly.
For instance, a prosecutor requested Madigan, “you trusted McClain with delicate issues, didn’t you sir?” Madigan replied, “generally.”
A lie, Blakey mentioned.
Madigan testified that, in 2018, he was “considering” whether or not to suggest Solis for a paid seat on a authorities board to JB Pritzker, Illinois’ future governor.
One other lie, the choose mentioned. In trade for that advice, Madigan requested Solis for assist securing enterprise for Madigan’s non-public regulation agency.
Maybe most notably, Blakey mentioned Madigan lied when he denied his position in ComEd’s scheme to pay $1.3 million to 5 of Madigan’s allies, in order that Madigan would look extra favorably on the utility’s laws in Springfield.
“This case is de facto unhappy,” Blakey mentioned, “as a result of the defendant is a devoted public servant — aside from the crimes confirmed on this case.”
The choose even invoked President Abraham Lincoln in his commentary Friday.
“It’s actually onerous to be Trustworthy Abe, proper?” Blakey mentioned. “He was a unicorn in our American historical past. Being nice is difficult. However being sincere just isn’t … It’s onerous to commit crimes. It truly takes effort.”
Blakey mentioned he didn’t got down to maintain Madigan chargeable for the entire corruption in Illinois. He additionally mentioned, “this sentence just isn’t primarily based on rhetoric or fantasy. It’s not primarily based on the parable of the Velvet Hammer or some folklore characterization of the Wizard of Springfield, Mike Madigan.
“That’s not actuality.”
Madigan grew up within the tight-knit thirteenth Ward. He testified that his father was a union man, concerned in native politics, and an alcoholic. His father additionally knew the legendary Mayor Richard J. Daley, and Madigan crossed paths with Daley throughout an early job at Metropolis Corridor.
The long run speaker turned a political disciple of Daley’s and was elected to the Illinois Home of Representatives in 1970. He dominated the chamber from 1983 till 2021, excluding two years when Republicans took management. He additionally turned chief of the state’s Democratic Occasion.
Madigan additionally maintained a longtime friendship with McClain, a former state lawmaker who went on to develop into a lobbyist for ComEd. A number of juries have heard in recent times how McClain got here to function Madigan’s messenger in Springfield.
All of it got here crashing down with an aggressive federal investigation into public corruption that dates again to 2014, turned public late in 2018, slapped Madigan with the moniker of “Public Official A” in 2020, and led to his indictment in 2022.
The Chicago Solar-Instances revealed Solis’ position as an undercover mole in January 2019. The previous twenty fifth Ward Metropolis Council member agreed to put on a wire for the FBI, testified towards Madigan and walked away from the investigation with out even a felony conviction.
That’s regardless of allegations of wrongdoing involving Viagra, therapeutic massage parlors and what he described as a suitcase filled with “Chinese language cash.”
In the meantime, the feds charged Madigan and McClain with a broad racketeering conspiracy. They accused the 2 males, in separate indictments, of the long-running bribery scheme involving ComEd. Additionally they mentioned the boys dedicated a sequence of crimes involving Solis.
After a four-month trial that featured greater than 60 witnesses, a jury in February discovered Madigan responsible of the ComEd conspiracy, in addition to the plot to put in Solis on a state board.
McClain was convicted for his position within the ComEd conspiracy in a separate trial and faces sentencing July 24. Additionally set to be sentenced within the coming weeks are former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and onetime Metropolis Membership President Jay Doherty.
The jury in February returned no verdict on the racketeering conspiracy, or the allegations involving McClain and Solis.
“Corruption on the highest degree of the state legislature tears on the material of an important governing physique,” interim U.S. Lawyer Andrew Boutros mentioned in a written assertion after Madigan’s sentencing. “It was the grit and dedication of our workforce of prosecutors and regulation enforcement brokers … that allowed this case to achieve a jury and ship a transparent message that the felony conduct by former Speaker Madigan was unacceptable.”
Taking the witness stand at trial is seen as dangerous for felony defendants. They are often accused of perjury if convicted — a actuality Madigan confronted Friday.
However Madigan’s choice to take that danger might have been what distinguished his case probably the most from Burke’s. U.S. District Decide Virginia Kendall, now town’s chief federal choose, handed Burke a two-year jail sentence for racketeering one 12 months in the past.
Burke started serving his sentence in September and is due out in March.
Kendall relied closely throughout Burke’s sentencing listening to on a pile of letters documenting Burke’s good works through the years.
Madigan delivered his personal batch of almost 250 letters of assist to Blakey, together with a video plea from Madigan’s ailing spouse. She instructed the choose, “I actually don’t exist with out him” and mentioned she’d want to seek out somebody to look after her if her husband went to jail.
Looking for a hefty 12 ½ 12 months sentence for Madigan, Streicker instructed the choose that “good deeds don’t erase or diminish defendant’s felony conduct.” She mentioned Madigan’s document as a public servant didn’t all the time reduce in his favor, particularly when it got here to how he used his “immense political energy.
“There have been occasions when he used it for good,” the prosecutor acknowledged. “However it was a double-edged sword that the defendant additionally used to profit himself and act in his personal self-interest.”
Streicker instructed the choose that “the general public is paying consideration,” and “the message must be clear that corruption of public workplace will likely be met with a stiff sentence.”
Moments later, Madigan lawyer Dan Collins requested Blakey for mercy. He instructed the choose that fellow attorneys had despatched him “quite a lot of quotes” — together with Bible verses and mission statements.
However, returning to a theme from Madigan’s trial, Collins instructed the choose that “in the present day shouldn’t be about rhetoric.
“It ought to be about actuality,” Collins mentioned. “It ought to be concerning the actuality of Mike.”
The lawyer insisted that Madigan “didn’t dwell his life to hunt energy. He tried to guide his social gathering.”
“I’m proud to name him a buddy,” Collins mentioned. “I’m honored to be his buddy.”
After Collins completed, Blakey requested Madigan whether or not he needed to talk. Collins requested the choose for a brief break, and Blakey left the bench. Then, when he returned, the choose once more requested Madigan whether or not he had something to say.
Madigan took a protracted sip of water, and he approached a courtroom podium — simply as he has performed so for a few years when making ready to debate a bit of laws.
The previous speaker instructed the choose, “I’m actually sorry for placing the folks of the state of Illinois by this.
“I attempted to do my greatest to serve the folks of the state of Illinois,” he mentioned. “I’m not good.”
Madigan requested the choose to let him look after his spouse. He additionally mentioned, “I ask that you simply let me spend my closing days with my household.”
However earlier within the listening to, Madigan’s attorneys instructed the choose he nonetheless insists upon his innocence.
And in the long run, Madigan took no duty for his crimes.
