A federal judge on Monday set a trial date of April 1, 2024, for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and a longtime confidant on racketeering charges alleging they conspired to leverage Madigan’s elected office and political power for personal gain.
The date for the six- to seven-week trial was set during a 10-minute telephone status hearing between U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey and attorneys in the case. Neither Madigan nor his co-defendant, Michael McClain, was required to be on the call.
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Madigan, 80, and McClain, 75, were originally charged last March in a 22-count indictment alleging they conspired to participate in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019, including an effort by utility giant Commonwealth Edison to pay off Madigan associates and win his support for legislation in Springfield.
A superseding indictment announced Oct. 14 accused Madigan and McClain in a similar scheme to conspire with executives and lobbyists at AT&T Illinois to funnel payments to a Madigan associate in exchange for the speaker’s help passing a controversial bill to end landline service.
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The indictment also accused Madigan of illegally soliciting business for his private property tax law firm during discussions to turn a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown into a commercial development.
Both Madigan and McClain have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys have accused prosecutors of trying to criminalize legal political actions such as job recommendations in a quest to bring down the once-powerful speaker.
If the April Fools’ Day trial date holds, Madigan would turn 82 during the proceedings.
[ Michael Madigan, ComEd and corruption: Timeline of how the investigation unfolded ]
Also Monday, the judge gave lawyers for both Madigan and McClain until the end of next month to file initial pretrial motions, the first of what’s expected to be a series of lengthy legal briefs arguing the merits of the charges.
McClain, meanwhile, is scheduled to go on trial on March 6 with three others charged in the ComEd scheme, including ex-ComEd CEO Ann Pramaggiorre, lobbyist John Hooker, and former consultant and City Club of Chicago President Jay Doherty.
Another defendant, former ComEd Vice President Fidel Marquez, has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify for the prosecution. Madigan’s former chief of staff, Timothy Mapes, meanwhile, is charged with lying to a federal grand jury about the case.
Both AT&T and ComEd have admitted illegal conduct and agreed to pay multi-million dollar fines as part of deferred prosecution deals with prosecutors that would see the charges against the companies dropped in exchange for their cooperation.
Also charged as part of the investigation was Paul La Schiazza, former president of AT&T Illinois, who was accused of orchestrating and approving the payments. He pleaded not guilty.
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