Longest-serving legislative leader in US history given 7 1/2 years in federal corruption case
SPRINGFIELD, Ill, June 14, (AP): The stunning downward spiral of Michael Madigan's political career ended Friday with a 7 1/2-year prison sentence and a $2.5 million fine for the former Illinois House speaker and the longest-serving legislative leader in US history after he was convicted of trading legislation for the enrichment of his friends and allies.
US District Judge John Robert Blakey sentenced the 83-year-old in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Nicknamed the "Velvet Hammer' for his quiet but hard-nosed style, Madigan was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts in a remarkable corruption trial that lasted four months. The case churned through 60 witnesses and mountains of documents, photographs and taped conversations. Federal prosecutors sought a 12 1/2-year prison term.
Madigan's attorneys wanted five years' probation, saying he is a good man who tried to do right by taxpayers and needs to be home to care for his ailing wife, Shirley, who submitted a videotaped statement to the court requesting her husband be able to come home. But Blakey noted that federal sentencing guidelines allowed for a term of 105 years based on findings in evidence - notably that Madigan committed perjury when he took the stand in his own defense.
Blakey was particularly piqued over what he called "a nauseating display of perjury and evasion.' "You lied. You did not have to. You had a right to sit there and exercise your right to silence,' Blakey said. "But you took the stand and you took the law into your own hands.' During a legislative career spanning half a century, Madigan served nearly four decades as speaker, the longest on record for a US legislator.
Combined with more than 20 years as chairperson of the Illinois Democratic Party, he set much of the state's political agenda while handpicking candidates for political office. More often than not, he also controlled political mapmaking, drawing lines to favor his party. Meanwhile, prosecutors said, the Chicago Democrat built a private legal career that allowed him to amass a net worth of $40 million.
Madigan was convicted on 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud and other charges for ensuring approval of legislation favorable to utility giant ComEd in exchange for kickbacks and jobs and contracts for loyalists, including a Chicago alderman seeking a paid job on a state board after retiring from government. The jury deadlocked on six counts, including an overarching racketeering conspiracy charge, and acquitted him on seven others.
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