(The Center Square) – A jury will decide if four former Commonwealth Edison executives and lobbyists conspired as part of an eight-year pay-for-play scheme to influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Jury deliberations started about 3 p.m. Tuesday after 24 days of testimony in one of the highest-profile corruption cases in Illinois since former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s trial.
Prosecutors charge former state lawmaker and lobbyist Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former contract lobbyist Jay Doherty, with a multi-year scheme to gain former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s backing for legislation that would benefit the utility’s bottom line.
Prosecutors allege the four defendants gave out $1.3 million in jobs, contracts and payments in exchange for favorable treatment on legislation in Springfield.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said the four were careful in the alleged eight-year scheme.
“They weren’t amateurs. They weren’t playing checkers. They were playing chess,” Bhachu said in his rebuttal. “When it came to chess, Mr. McClain and the others were grandmasters of corruption.”
The defendants have all pleaded “not guilty” to conspiracy, bribery and willfully falsifying ComEd books and records. Defense attorneys said their clients were caught between a powerful federal government on a mission to get Madigan and asked the jury to serve as a shield.
“This is not a bribery conspiracy,” said Jacqueline Jacobson, the lawyer for Hooker. “This is a business decision.”
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.
Defense attorneys said their clients did nothing wrong in lobbying politicians, including Madigan, to pass three energy measures that helped the utility bounce back from the brink of bankruptcy. One witness estimated the legislation was worth about $750 million for the utility through 2030.
ComEd is the largest electric utility in the state. It serves about 4 million customers in northern Illinois. ComEd is owned by Exelon, the nation’s largest utility company. Exelon serves more than 10 million customers through six regulated transmission and distribution utilities.
The jury is expected to continue deliberations at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Madigan has loomed over Judge Harry Leinenweber’s 17th-floor courtroom in the Dirksen building in Chicago from the outset of the trial. 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.
The utility 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.
This article First appeared in the center square
