Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan: Bribery, Conviction, and Appeal

The Michael Madigan corruption case ended with the former Illinois House Speaker convicted in February 2025 on 10 federal counts of bribery, wire fraud, and related offenses, and sentenced that June to seven and a half years in prison for steering state energy legislation in exchange for jobs and payments funneled to his political allies by Commonwealth Edison.¹²³

Who Madigan Was When the Case Broke

Madigan held the Illinois House speakership for 36 years, the longest run of any state or federal legislative leader in American history, and simultaneously chaired the Democratic Party of Illinois for 23 years.¹⁴ Through his Southwest Side ward organization and his private property-tax appeals firm, Madigan & Getzendanner, he sat at the center of Illinois political and business life for decades. That reach is what the federal case alleged he monetized.

The ComEd Bribery Scheme

At the core of the prosecution was an arrangement between Madigan and Commonwealth Edison, the state’s largest electric utility. From roughly 2011 to 2019, prosecutors said, ComEd funneled more than $1.3 million in jobs, contracts, and payments to Madigan’s political associates, expecting that Madigan would move favorable energy legislation through the General Assembly.⁵ Prosecutors called it an “old-fashioned patronage system.”

The payments ran through intermediaries. Jay D. Doherty & Associates, a consulting firm with a ComEd contract, served as a pass-through, cutting monthly checks of $4,000 to $5,000 to Madigan allies who did little or no actual work for the utility.⁶ ComEd also hired law firms and seated board members at Madigan’s request. Michael McClain, a former lobbyist and Madigan’s closest confidant, was the go-between, at one point instructing associates: “Don’t put anything in writing.”⁷

In exchange, Madigan repeatedly facilitated changes to state energy law that benefited ComEd. One witness projected the favorable legislation generated at least $400 million in shareholder value for the utility.⁸

The AT&T Illinois Scheme

A second strand of the case involved AT&T Illinois. In 2017, then-president Paul La Schiazza arranged a $22,500 consulting contract for former state representative Eddie Acevedo, a Madigan associate who performed no actual work, to secure Madigan’s support for legislation ending the company’s obligation to provide landline telephone service.⁹ The payments ran through a lobbying firm, Cullen & Associates. The lobbyist who handled the arrangement later testified that he gave Acevedo “busy work” and had no real need for his services.¹⁰

The legislation passed both chambers of the General Assembly on May 31, 2017. Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed it; lawmakers overrode the veto on July 1, 2017.¹⁰ AT&T Illinois itself entered a two-year deferred prosecution agreement in October 2022, paid a $23 million fine, and admitted it had attempted to bribe Madigan. That charge was dismissed on November 20, 2024.¹¹ La Schiazza’s own trial ended in a hung jury in September 2024; he later entered a deferred prosecution agreement with a $200,000 fine and an admission that he intended to bribe Madigan.¹²

The Danny Solis Wire Fraud Counts

A third strand involved former Chicago Alderman Danny Solis. In 2016, FBI agents confronted Solis about his own alleged misconduct, and he agreed to cooperate. Over the next two and a half years, Solis let the FBI wiretap his phone and wore a hidden camera to record conversations with Madigan and others.¹³

Prosecutors alleged Madigan solicited Solis’s help to steer property-tax appeal work to Madigan’s own law firm, offering in return to help Solis obtain a lucrative state board appointment. That arrangement produced the wire fraud and Travel Act counts in the indictment.¹⁴ Federal prosecutors dismissed the bribery charge against Solis in May 2025 after he fulfilled his cooperation obligations. He kept his taxpayer-funded pension of nearly $100,000 a year and served no jail time.¹⁵

How the Case Came Together

The scheme first surfaced publicly on July 17, 2020, when ComEd entered a deferred prosecution agreement, admitted to arranging jobs and payments for associates of a high-level elected official, and agreed to a $200 million fine borne by shareholders rather than ratepayers.¹⁶ ComEd also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and overhaul its compliance program. The three-year term expired on July 17, 2023, and the charge was dismissed after ComEd met its obligations.¹⁷

Madigan was identified in that agreement as “Public Official A.” Within months his hold on the speakership gave way. A block of 19 House Democrats declared they would not support him for another term, and on January 11, 2021, Madigan suspended his campaign.¹⁸ Two days later, Representative Emanuel “Chris” Welch replaced him, becoming the first person other than Madigan to hold the post in 24 years.¹⁹ Madigan then stepped down as state party chairman and retired from the General Assembly.

Indictment, Trial, and Verdict

A federal grand jury returned a racketeering indictment against Madigan on March 2, 2022, charging him with 22 counts including racketeering conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, attempted extortion, and using interstate facilities in aid of bribery.²⁰ A superseding indictment in October 2022 added a conspiracy count tied to the AT&T Illinois scheme, bringing the total to 23. McClain was charged as a co-defendant on six counts.⁹

The trial featured more than 50 witnesses and over 1,000 exhibits. Madigan took the stand in his own defense. On February 12, 2025, the jury returned a split verdict: guilty on 10 counts, not guilty on seven, and deadlocked on six, including the marquee racketeering conspiracy charge, which was declared a mistrial.²¹

The convictions covered:

ComEd-related counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, two counts of bribery, and one Travel Act violation.
Solis board-appointment scheme: three counts of wire fraud and three Travel Act violations.

Madigan was acquitted of all charges tied to a real estate development called Union West, where prosecutors had alleged attempted extortion.²¹

Sentencing

On June 13, 2025, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey sentenced Madigan to 90 months in federal prison, three years of probation, and a $2.5 million fine.²² Blakey described the case as “a tale of two different Mike Madigans,” acknowledging the former Speaker as “a dedicated public servant” and “a good and decent person” apart from the proven crimes. He was less forgiving about Madigan’s testimony, applying a sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice and calling the testimony “littered with obstruction of justice” and “a nauseating display” of “perjury and evasion.” He told Madigan: “You lied, sir. You lied. You did not have to.”¹

When Madigan offered a brief statement of regret, Blakey responded, “The defendant says he’s sorry for putting the people of Illinois through this … I guess that’s as close as we’ll get to remorse.” The sentencing guidelines technically allowed a sentence as high as 105 years, which Blakey rejected as unreasonable while also dismissing defense arguments that any prison term would amount to a life sentence at Madigan’s age.¹

Prison and Appeal

After both the district court and the Seventh Circuit denied requests for an appeal bond, Madigan reported to a minimum-security federal prison camp in Morgantown, West Virginia, on October 13, 2025, as inmate 90368-509.² Under federal rules he must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence, slightly more than six years, though the First Step Act could allow him to seek home confinement as an elderly inmate.²³

On April 27, 2026, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit upheld the conviction. Writing for the panel, Judge Michael Scudder rejected the defense argument that Madigan’s actions amounted to “run-of-the-mill politics,” finding instead a “sustained and concealed arrangement to exchange enormous political influence within the Illinois General Assembly for over $3 million of benefits for political allies.” The court found no errors in the jury instructions and said jurors could “reasonably infer from this mountain of evidence that Madigan conspired to receive bribes.”³ Madigan is expected to seek rehearing before the full appellate court and potentially petition the U.S. Supreme Court.²⁴

Co-Defendants and the Snyder Complication

Four former ComEd executives and lobbyists, known as the “ComEd Four,” were convicted at a separate 2023 trial. After the Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision in Snyder v. United States narrowed the federal bribery statute to exclude after-the-fact “gratuities,” U.S. District Judge Manish Shah dismissed most bribery counts against the group, leaving an overarching conspiracy charge and charges related to falsifying corporate records.²⁵ Their sentences:

Michael McClain, former lobbyist and Madigan confidant: 24 months.²⁶
Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd CEO: 24 months and a $750,000 fine.⁷
John Hooker, former ComEd executive: 18 months and a $500,000 fine.⁷
Jay Doherty, former lobbyist and pass-through for payments: one year and one day, with no fine due to his “negative net worth.”²⁵

Former ComEd Senior Vice President Fidel Marquez cooperated with investigators and pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy charge in September 2020. He testified against his former colleagues and was expected to have his charge dropped.⁶

Madigan’s own team pressed the Snyder argument as well, contending the charges amounted to gratuities rather than a true quid pro quo. Prosecutors answered that they could prove an “implicit quid pro quo” under a “stream of benefits” theory and that the ComEd arrangement was a long-running, concealed exchange, not a series of after-the-fact rewards.²⁷ Judge Blakey declined to drop any charges from Madigan’s trial, and the Seventh Circuit’s April 2026 ruling left the convictions intact.²⁸

1
Capitol News Illinois. Ex-Speaker Madigan Sentenced to 7½ Years in Prison for Bribery, Corruption
2
KWQC. Ex-Speaker Madigan Reports to West Virginia Prison to Begin 7-Year Sentence
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WTTW News. Appeals Court Upholds Michael Madigan Verdict; House Speaker Will Remain in Prison
4
Illinois Policy Institute. Investigation: Madigan Firm the Biggest Player in Commercial Property Tax Appeals
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Capitol News Illinois. “You Preferred Secrecy and Lies”: Madigan Confidant Gets 2 Years for Role in ComEd Bribery Scheme
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Chicago Sun-Times. ComEd Timeline
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ABC 7 Chicago. Michael McClain Sentencing in ComEd Bribery Case Linked to Mike Madigan
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WTTW News. Ex-Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan Sentenced to 7.5 Years in Prison
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U.S. Department of Justice. Superseding Federal Indictment Against Former Illinois Speaker of the House Adds Charge
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Courthouse News Service. AT&T’s Involvement in Illinois Politics Takes Focus in Mike Madigan Corruption Trial
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Chicago Sun-Times. AT&T Illinois Madigan Racketeering Case Dismissed
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Chicago Tribune. AT&T Illinois Boss Bribery Madigan Agreement
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WTTW News. “I Agreed to Cooperate”: Disgraced Ex-Ald. Turned Government Mole Danny Solis Takes the Witness Stand
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Chicago Sun-Times. Michael Madigan Law Firm Name Removed
15
Capitol News Illinois. “You Won’t Spend a Day in Jail”: Madigan Attorney Hammers Solis Agreement With Feds
16
Utility Dive. ComEd Admits to Bribery Charge in Illinois, Agrees to Pay $200M Fine
17
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Administrative Proceeding – ComEd DPA Completion
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WTTW News. Rep. Welch to Become Speaker of the House; Madigan Reign Ends
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ABC 7 Chicago. Chris Welch Elected Illinois House Speaker, Replacing Mike Madigan
20
ABC 7 Chicago. Mike Madigan Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charges
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ABC 7 Chicago. Madigan Jury Reaches Consensus on 17 Charges, Deadlocked on 6 Others
22
Governing. Former Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan Sentenced to 7½ Years in Prison
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Chicago Tribune. Speaker Michael Madigan Reports to Prison
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Chicago Sun-Times. Illinois Madigan ComEd Corruption Speaker House
25
Capitol News Illinois. Jay Doherty Gets 1 Year in Prison for Role in Madigan Bribery Scheme
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Capitol News Illinois. “You Preferred Secrecy and Lies”: Madigan Confidant Gets 2 Years
27
NPR Illinois. In Month Since SCOTUS Bribery Decision, Madigan-Related Corruption Cases Forge Ahead
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Capitol News Illinois. SCOTUS Ruling Could Upend Federal Corruption Cases for Madigan Allies