Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to face sentencing for bribery conviction
Federal prosecutors have urged U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey to sentence Madigan, 83, to 12 ½ years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, arguing his decades-long reign as speaker was "steeped in corruption."
"Madigan has expressed no remorse for his crimes, nor has he acknowledged the damage wrought by his conduct. Indeed, Madigan went so far as to commit perjury at trial in an effort to avoid accountability, and he persists in framing his actions as nothing more than helping people," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing recommendation last month.
Madigan's defense team has asked the judge to sentence him to five years of probation, including the first year on home confinement, along with community service and a "reasonable fine."
"Mike Madigan is a remarkable husband, father, friend, and public servant. Throughout his 83-year life, Mike quite literally changed the lives of tens of thousands of people in his district on the south side of Chicago. He positively impacted millions of people throughout the State of Illinois," defense attorneys wrote.
Last week, his wife, Shirley Madigan, made a video plea that she hopes will be played in open court, explaining that she wouldn't know what to do without him around.
"I would probably have to find some place to live, and I probably would have to find care," she said in the video.
All this following a four-month trial, a jury in February convicted Madigan of 10 felony counts, including bribery, bribery conspiracy, wire fraud, and using interstate commerce to facilitate bribery. Jurors acquitted him of seven other charges, and were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on six other charges, including the most serious count of racketeering.
Madigan was convicted of a plot to arrange for cushy no-show ComEd jobs for his allies in exchange for his support for beneficial legislation. Jurors also found him guilty of a scheme to get a state board position for former Ald. Danny Solis in exchange for Solis' help securing business for Madigan's private law firm.
Solis was a key witness against Madigan, after he agreed to wear a wire for federal investigators as part of a deal to avoid prosecution for his own crimes.
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