The federal bribery case against a longtime confidant of former House Speaker Michael Madigan and three others has been rescheduled for March due to logistics issues with another high-profile case against singer R. Kelly.
The “ComEd Four” case, as it has come to be known, had been set to kick off in September, but U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber scuttled that plan last month when he learned that the large ceremonial courtroom would still be tied up with Kelly’s trial, which begins on Aug. 15.
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The courtroom on the 25th floor of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse has been in high demand during the pandemic and is the only space that can accommodate a jury trial with multiple defendants given the COVID-19 protocols that are still in effect.
During a brief status hearing Thursday, Leinenweber reset the trial for March 6. With the trial expected to last up to two months, Leinenweber said he would order a special panel of prospective jurors who have said in advance they could sit for that long.
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Charged in the November 2020 indictment were Michael McClain, a former state legislator and lobbyist who was part of Madigan’s inner circle; Anne Pramaggiore, former CEO of ComEd; John Hooker, a longtime ComEd lobbyist; and Jay Doherty, a consultant for the utility and one-time head of the City Club of Chicago.
The 50-page indictment alleged that beginning in 2011, McClain and the other defendants “arranged for various associates” of Madigan — including his political allies and campaign workers — to “obtain jobs, contracts and monetary payments” from ComEd even in instances where they did little or no actual work.
McClain and the other defendants also conspired to have ComEd hire a Madigan-favored law firm and lawyer, previously identified in public testimony as Victor Reyes of Reyes Kurson, and to accept into ComEd’s summer internship program a certain number of students who lived in Madigan’s 13th Ward, according to the charges.
Pramaggiore and McClain also allegedly took steps to have Juan Ochoa, former head of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Chicago, appointed to ComEd’s board of directors at the request of Madigan and McClain, the indictment stated.
All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Madigan and McClain were indicted in March on separate racketeering charges that include the alleged ComEd scheme. Both Madigan and McClain have denied the allegations and are awaiting trial.
