(The Center Square) – A federal jury on Tuesday convicted four top lobbyists and executives at a state-regulated utility in Illinois’ highest-profile corruption case since former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted 13 years ago.
The jury convicted the defendants on all counts in the case in which prosecutors alleged former state lawmaker and lobbyist Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former contract lobbyist Jay Doherty were involved in a multi-year scheme to gain longtime former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s support for legislation that would benefit the utility’s bottom line.
Pramaggiore lives in suburban Barrington and McClain lives in Quincy. McClain’s wife and sons were in the courtroom when the verdict was read. Hooker left the courthouse without comment.
The judge must impose reasonable sentences under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
A judge sentenced Blagojevich to 14 years in federal prison over his conviction on charges related to his attempt to personally gain from appointing someone to replace U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s Senate seat after Obama was elected president, among other corruption-related charges. Then-President Donald Trump commuted Blagojevich’s sentence in 2020 after the former governor had been in prison for almost eight years.
At trial, prosecutors presented secretly recorded videos, wiretapped phone calls and hundreds of emails to show how the four former Commonwealth Edison executives and lobbyists were what they called “the grandmasters of corruption.” Prosecutors alleged that the utility paid out $1.3 million in jobs, contracts and payments to associates of Madigan over eight years in exchange for favorable treatment on legislation in Springfield that would affect the state’s largest electric utility.
Then Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, speaks to lawmakers while on the House floor at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.
Defense attorneys said the four never bribed anyone and that the government’s star witness, former utility executive Fidel Marquez, was an opportunist who blamed others for his failure to assign work to subcontractors associated with Madigan.
They argued the four didn’t do anything wrong.
“This is not a bribery conspiracy,” said Jacqueline Jacobson, the lawyer for Hooker. “This is a business decision.”
Other defense attorneys argued the conduct was legal lobbying, including efforts to build goodwill with elected officials.
Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021. He served as speaker of the Illinois House from 1983 to 1995 and again from 1997 to 2021. He wielded additional power as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois.
Madigan, who resigned after losing the House speakership in January 2021, has been charged with 23 counts of racketeering, bribery, and official misconduct alongside McClain in a separate case that could go to trial in April 2024.
ComEd agreed to pay $200 million in July 2020 to resolve a criminal investigation into the years-long bribery scheme. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, ComEd admitted it arranged jobs, vendor subcontracts and payments in a bid to influence Madigan.
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