illinois michael madigan

Michael Madigan, once the state of Illinois’ most powerful politician during his decades-long run as Illinois House Speaker and chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, has now joined the long list of local and state powerbrokers convicted on federal corruption charges.

But Madigan dodged the top count — racketeering conspiracy — and several other charges tied to disgraced former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis after the jury deadlocked on a dozen charges.

Morris Pasqual, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said Wednesday’s convictions “rank high in the annals of criminal cases tried in this court.”

“The citizens of Illinois have a right to honest, clean government,” he said. “They have a right to have the decisions of their elected officials made based on what is good for the public, what is in the common good. They have a right to trust and expect that from their public officials. Michael Madigan breached and violated that trust over and over again.”

Madigan, flanked by his family and attorneys, left the courthouse without comment following the verdict. He faces up to 20 years in prison on some of the charges.

Read More: After Madigan’s Conviction, Lawmakers Ask: Has Illinois Done Enough to Root Out Corruption?

The jury deadlock extended to each of the six charges faced by Madigan’s co-defendant and longtime confidant Michael McClain.

McClain said his head was “spinning” after the verdicts were read off. Asked if he was surprised by the jury deadlock, he responded, “I was surprised I got indicted.”

Madigan was convicted on 10 counts in total, relating to his efforts to secure a valuable state board position for Solis and to the most wide-ranging of the alleged bribery schemes outlined by the government involving utility giant Commonwealth Edison.

McClain and three others were previously convicted of conspiring to bribe Madigan in the 2023 “ComEd Four” trial, though defense attorneys in that case are seeking to have those convictions tossed out.

“We are very glad to be walking out of this building the way Mike walked into it,” McClain’s defense attorney Patrick Cotter told reporters in the lobby of the Dirksen Federal Building. “He was an innocent man when he walked in, he’s walking out an innocent man.”

The jury deadlocked or acquitted the former speaker outright on seven other charges relating to three of the five schemes alleged by the government. Two of those related directly to Solis, who operated as an undercover mole for the government, recording years’ worth of calls and conversations with Madigan, McClain and others.

Specifically, Madigan was found not guilty of attempted extortion and three other charges connected to his alleged efforts to illegally steer business to his private tax firm — Madigan & Getzendanner — from developers of the Union West property.

The jury deadlocked on other charges connected to another similar scheme in which Madigan was again accused of attempting to steer business to his firm amid efforts to develop a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown in 2018.

They also deadlocked on a conspiracy count that alleged Madigan and McClain worked with AT&T Illinois leadership to solicit bribes from the phone company. That follows a similar deadlock from a separate federal jury in the trial of former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza, who is set to be retried later this year.

Pasqual said his office has not yet decided whether to retry the charges in this case on which the jury failed to reach a verdict.

“The Madigan verdict by a jury of everyday Illinoisans is an important message to anyone in government — or those thinking about public service — that if you choose corruption you will be found out, and you will be punished,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “This week has been a vital reminder that we must maintain our vigilance in cleaning up government and always put the people we serve first.”

Michael McClain, left, and his attorney Patrick Cotter speak in the lobby of the Dirksen Federal building on Feb. 12, 2025. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)

Solis, the former 25th Ward alderperson and chair of the city’s powerful Zoning Committee, served as the government’s star witness after he secretly recorded numerous conversations, both in-person and over the phone, with Madigan, McClain and others.

The Solis recordings and his lengthy testimony made up some of the most crucial evidence against Madigan in the Chinatown, Union West and state board seat schemes.

While the jury failed to reach a verdict on some of those Solis-related charges, Pasqual said he still believes the former alderperson “provided significant cooperation which contributed in a significant manner to the verdict in this case.”

Solis — who only cooperated after he was confronted by FBI investigators with evidence of his own bribery and corruption during his time in office — testified under a deferred prosecution agreement and is not expected to serve any jail time.

On the morning of the 11th day of jury deliberations, the jury of eight women and four men on Wednesday morning wrote a note to the court informing them of the verdict split.

“We have come to a unanimous decision on 17 counts,” the note read. “We have tried our very best to come to a unanimous decision on the remaining 12 counts and have not been able to do so. It is our belief that this impasse will not be overcome.”

The jury late Tuesday issued another note which may have indicated some contention in their deliberations, asking for an early release as they had “reached (their) limit” for the day while hoping to come back Wednesday and “start fresh.”

Madigan and McClain faced charges of racketeering, federal program bribery and wire fraud. Madigan is also accused of attempted extortion. The men were charged in a 23-count indictment, but Madigan and McClain were both charged together on six of those counts, bringing the total number of charges to 29.

Defense attorneys for both Madigan and McClain suggested accepting that partial verdict and declaring a mistrial on outstanding counts. Federal prosecutors said they were amenable to the decision, but wanted to inform the jury they are allowed to issue that partial verdict and that they would not need to continue deliberations on the outstanding changes if they remained deadlocked.

Michael Madigan listens as Judge John Blakey reads the verdict. (Illustration by L.D. Chukman)

Prosecutors at trial argued Madigan was driven by “power and profit” as he, along with McClain, organized a “stream of bribes” in order to enhance his own power and line the pockets of himself and his allies.

“These folks are not playing checkers, they were playing chess,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said of the defendants during his closing arguments last month, “and the two of them were grandmasters of corruption.”

Illinois’ most powerful politician for decades, Madigan represented the 22nd District on Chicago’s Southwest Side for 50 years and led the Democratic Party of Illinois for 20 years before he was forced from power amid corruption rumors.

Madigan was first hit with a sweeping indictment back in 2022 in which he was accused of orchestrating five separate corruption schemes.

In the most wide-ranging of those schemes, Madigan and McClain were accused of arranging subcontractor jobs for several of the former speaker’s associates with Commonwealth Edison, which paid them $1.3 million even as they did little or no actual work for the utility giant.

ComEd execs allegedly hired the “ghost” workers in order to win over Madigan’s support on critical energy legislation in Springfield. Already, McClain and three other utility officials were convicted of conspiring to bribe Madigan in the 2023 “ComEd Four” trial.

Madigan and McClain were also accused of soliciting bribes from AT&T Illinois leadership by arranging for the phone company to indirectly pay ex-state Rep. Eddie Acevedo — another Madigan legislative ally — $22,500 over nine months though Acevedo did no actual work for the company.

Beyond those bribery charges, Madigan was accused of seeking to illegally steer business to his private property tax law firm in exchange for official action.

During the trial, Madigan took the witness stand in a stunning twist in which he denied any wrongdoing saying that he did nothing more than pass along to McClain — who worked as a contract lobbyist for ComEd — the names of his allies who had reached out for help finding work.

“When people ask me for help, if possible, I tried to help them,” Madigan told jurors.

Madigan testified he had no clue those around him weren’t doing the work they were paid to do for ComEd, and claimed he became “angry” when he later learned about this.

But in saying that on the witness stand, he opened the door for prosecutors to present a previously barred recording of a call between Madigan and McClain in which the speaker can be heard laughing about the idea of people being paid for little or no work.

“Some of these guys have made out like bandits, Mike,” Madigan said during the August 2018 phone conversation.

“Oh my God, for very little work, too,” McClain added. “Very little work.”

“Yeah,” Madigan replied on the call.

While the pair were discussing a ComEd labor consultant — not the “ghost” subcontractors — but prosecutors claimed that the fact Madigan referred to multiple “bandits” showed he was aware more than just one person weren’t doing the work they were paid to do for the company.

Prosecutors also argued the speaker’s laughter was “entirely inconsistent” with the concern and anger he testified that he’d felt.

Jurors at trial also heard from Solis, who testified about his secret recordings.

Prosecutors claimed Madigan would reach out to Solis and use the alderperson’s official position to gain private benefits for himself by setting up meetings with real estate developers so he could pitch them on his private law firm.

Illinois lawmakers react to Madigan corruption verdict

Then-House Speaker Michael Madigan speaks to members of the media in 2019 at the Capitol after a House Democrats caucus. (Capitol News Illinois file photo)

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers voiced a wide range of reactions Wednesday following former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s conviction on multiple federal corruption charges.

Republicans, who have long complained about his style of leadership, amplified their call for broader ethics reform in the Capitol while Democrats tried to put the Madigan era behind them and shift their focus to the future.

“We all knew this day was coming,” House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said at a virtual news conference.

Madigan, the longest serving legislative leader in U.S. history, was convicted of bribery and conspiracy. Most of the counts for which he was convicted related to him allegedly seeking favors, such as no-work contracts for his allies, from officials at utility giant Commonwealth Edison in exchange for his support for favorable legislation. After being convicted on 10 charges, Madigan was found not guilty on seven others, while the jury deadlocked on the six remaining charges shared by him and his co-defendant, former lobbyist Mike McClain.

Madigan was sometimes known to be a thorn in Illinois governors’ sides. Former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner once claimed “I am not in charge,” when talking about Madigan. But Madigan wasn’t a major barrier to Gov. JB Pritzker, who only served two years alongside the now-convicted ex-speaker.

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, ascended to the speakership in January 2021 after Madigan lost support from enough House Democrats to doom his reelection bid. According to the Tribune, Madigan called Welch after it was clear he lost support to ask if he would want to become speaker.

Welch had protected Madigan in the year prior after Republicans sought to oust him from office for “conduct unbecoming of a legislator” via a special House investigating committee.

The House GOP launched that effort after ComEd was charged with handing out favors to Madigan allies in an attempt to gain support from Madigan on legislation. But Welch, who was appointed by Madigan’s majority leader to chair the committee, voted with two fellow Democrats to shut down the investigation, calling it a “sham show trial.” Republicans accused him of protecting Madigan from discipline more than a year before he was charged with crimes related to his relationship with ComEd.

House Speaker Michael Madigan speaks to journalism students in 2019 at his office in Springfield. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Lindsey Salvatelli)

“I have always believed that a court of law was the place for this to be all sorted out,” Welch said in a statement. “Today’s outcome leaves me with great appreciation and respect for our legal system. Investigators, prosecutors, and a jury of Illinoisans did their job.”

Welch, who began his third term as speaker in January, said House Democrats are now “focused on delivering for working people.”

Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, who helped initiate the committee to investigate Madigan, criticized Welch’s leadership of the committee at a news conference on Wednesday.

“Our efforts could have put a stop to this situation many years ago if we had cooperation from the majority party to support ethics reform and to investigate the pattern of corruption that has now been on full display for Speaker Mike Madigan,” Spain said at the news conference.

Madigan was also the longtime chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. As party chair, he was able to direct campaign contributions to help Democrats win their races and grow a majority in the Illinois House, a majority that has remained intact since the mid-1990s.

Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Lisa Hernandez said in a statement her “focus has been on building a more transparent, accountable, and people-focused party” since she took over in 2022 after U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly succeed Madigan in 2021.

“Public service is a responsibility, not a privilege, and those who break the public trust must be held accountable, no matter who they are,” Hernandez said.

Republican party leaders said Democrats are not absolved of their ties to their former party chair as many can credit their electoral victories to Madigan.

“Make no mistake: nearly every Democrat in Illinois has benefitted from Madigan’s corruption in some way, and they have all been willing to sell their souls for hefty donations and the support of the political machine Madigan built,” Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi said in a statement.

Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, had been outspoken in the final years of Madigan’s tenure about the handling of sexual harassment issues in the Democratic Party of Illinois and bullying in the House. Her name came up early in the trial as prosecutors dug into the inner workings of the House and Madigan’s circle.

“That there will be some measure of accountability for the decades of abuse of power and corruption is critically important and will have implications for our state government for generations,” Cassidy said in a statement. “Particularly in a moment when our federal government has been subsumed by blatantly corrupt forces, we need our state government to be trustworthy to the public and focused on the will of the people, not self-interest.”

Madigan speaks at an Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association brunch in Springfield in 2019. (Capitol News Illinois file photo)

Cassidy was one of 19 House Democrats who put the final nail in the coffin of Madigan’s speakership in 2021 by opposing his reelection as speaker, ultimately forcing him to bow out of the race and, shortly after, resign from the House. The group opposed Madigan’s handling of harassment allegations and shared concerns about a possibly corrupt relationship between Madigan and ComEd.

Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, briefly challenged Madigan for the speakership in 2021.

“It’s clear we have unequivocally moved away from the practices of the past, which put politics before people,” Williams said in a statement to Capitol News Illinois. “It is time to put this chapter behind us as we face incredibly difficult challenges as a state and nation.”

Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the “verdict is a sobering reminder that our work is never finished.”

“The jury’s verdict closes a long, disturbing chapter in Illinois’ history,” Harmon said in a statement. “It’s a stark reminder that corruption, abuse of power and manipulation of public policy for personal gain can never be tolerated. We cannot be effective if people don’t trust us.”

House Republicans said Madigan’s legacy continues to live on in the House rules, which govern how the House operates.

“The issue at the heart of the ComEd scandal here and these convictions had to do with the unchecked ability of Mike Madigan to decide whether or not a bill would be considered for a vote by the House,” Spain said.

Republicans want changes to the House rules to make it easier for members to influence which bills get called for votes.

They also argued more ethics reform is needed, such as providing more power to the legislative inspector general and enacting more restrictions to make it harder for a legislator to resign their office and immediately become a lobbyist.

“We cannot afford to have federal prosecutors continue to enforce our weak ethics laws, regardless of what Speaker Welch feels,” McCombie said.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

STATEHOUSE REPORTER Ben joined CNI in November 2024 as a Statehouse reporter covering the General Assembly from Springfield and other events happening around state government. He previously covered Illinois government for The Daily Line following time in McHenry County with the Northwest Herald. Ben is also a graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield PAR program. He is a lifelong Illinois resident and is originally from Mundelein.

STATEHOUSE REPORTER Peter was one of the founding reporters with Capitol News Illinois. He came to Springfield after many years working in Topeka, Kansas, where he covered the Kansas statehouse and other beats. He began his reporting career in 1989 at a small county weekly newspaper and has worked in a variety of settings including both daily and nondaily newspapers, online media and public radio. A native of the Kansas City area, he has degrees in political science and education from the University of Kansas.

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Former longtime Illinois legislative leader Michael Madigan is convicted in corruption trial

Flanked by supporters and holding hands with his daughter Nicole, Illinois’ former House Speaker Michael Madigan walks out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago Democrat who once set much of Illinois’ political agenda as the longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history was convicted of conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud Wednesday in a split verdict in his high-profile corruption trial.

In a packed courtroom, jurors convicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of 10 counts and acquitted him of seven in a bribery case that led to the downfall of a man who was nicknamed the “Velvet Hammer” for his forceful yet quiet leadership style. The jury could not reach a decision on six counts, including an overarching racketeering conspiracy charge, after deliberations that lasted more than 10 days.

Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual called it a “historic” conviction, ranking high among top public corruption cases tried in Chicago’s federal courthouse. He said that Illinois residents have a right to trust in their government

“Michael Madigan breached and violated that trust over and over again,” he said.

Madigan, who surprised even longtime political observers by taking the stand during the trial to strongly deny all wrongdoing, left the courthouse without addressing reporters after the verdict was announced. Television cameras followed the former speaker — flanked by his attorneys — as he walked outside into the falling snow.

Speaker for more than three decades and former leader of the Democratic Party of Illinois, Madigan was found guilty of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and other counts related to schemes involving the state’s largest utility, ComEd, and efforts to get a Chicago alderman a state board job. Jurors acquitted him or deadlocked on counts related to an apartment project, a parking lot in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood and AT&T legislation.

Federal prosecutors have not determined whether they will seek a retrial on the deadlocked counts. A sentencing date hasn’t been set. Madigan, 82, could face significant prison time as the wire fraud counts alone carry a maximum penalty of 20 years, according to prosecutors. Madigan also faces related forfeiture proceedings.

The 23-count indictment accused Madigan of using his influence to pass legislation favorable to utility companies that doled out kickbacks, jobs and contracts to his loyalists. An attorney, Madigan was also accused of benefiting from private work that was illegally steered to his law firm.

“Time and again, Madigan abused the tremendous power he wielded,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz during closing arguments.

In his testimony, the normally private Madigan told the court: “When people asked me for help, if possible, I tried to help them.”

The trial, which began in October, featured more than 60 witnesses, including a congresswoman, business leaders and former state legislators. Prosecutors presented photographs, transcripts and recordings. The backbone of their case was hours of videos and phone calls secretly recorded by a onetime Chicago alderman turned FBI informant.

The trial was a glimpse into how Madigan, who famously didn’t use a cellphone or email, operated behind closed doors. The lines between his roles were often blurred. Madigan, who represented a district near Midway International Airport on Chicago’s southwest side, often had meetings at his downtown law office, whether they were for political or legal work. Elected officials or his political advisers met alongside business contacts.

On the stand, Madigan cast himself as a devoted public servant with a tough upbringing in a working-class Chicago neighborhood. But federal prosecutors during sometimes tense exchanges probed about his comments on the secret recordings, including one where he chuckled that some of his loyalists “made out like bandits.”

Madigan left political office in 2021 while under investigation and was indicted the following year.

Several of his family members attended the trial, including his daughter, Lisa Madigan, who served four terms as Illinois attorney general. She declined to seek reelection in 2018.

Much of the evidence had been previewed in open court. A sweeping investigation of public corruption in Illinois previously produced convictions of other elected officials and Madigan’s former chief of staff.

Top state leaders said Wednesday’s verdict was a reminder that corruption can’t be tolerated.

“The jury’s verdict closes a long, disturbing chapter in Illinois’ history,” said Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, a Democrat. “It’s a stark reminder that corruption, abuse of power and manipulation of public policy for personal gain can never be tolerated.”

First elected to the Legislature in 1970, Michael Madigan was the Illinois House speaker from 1983 to 2021, except for two years when Republicans were in control. He decided which legislation would be voted on, oversaw political mapmaking and controlled several campaign funds.

Standing trial alongside Madigan was longtime confidant Michael McClain, who prosecutors called Madigan’s “mouthpiece.” Jurors deadlocked on all of the counts McClain faced. McClain, a onetime state legislator and former lobbyist, was convicted last year with three others in a related case of a bribery conspiracy involving ComEd.

McClain’s attorneys deemed the deadlocked counts a win.

“He was an innocent man when he walked in,” attorney Patrick Cotter told reporters. “He’s walking out an innocent man.”

Illinois lawmakers react to Madigan corruption verdict

Former longtime Illinois legislative leader Michael Madigan is convicted in corruption trial

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