By HANNAH MEISEL
Capitol News Illinois
A federal jury on Tuesday convicted three ex-lobbyists and the former CEO of electric utility Commonwealth Edison for their involvement in an alleged bribery scheme aimed at longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and Mike McClain – the utility’s longtime contract lobbyist and close confidant of Madigan – were each found guilty of nine counts of conspiracy bribery and falsifying records. Former City Club of Chicago President Jay Doherty, who also served for decades as an external lobbyist for the utility, and John Hooker, a former ComEd executive turned contract lobbyist for the company, were each found guilty of six counts.
Prosecutors alleged the foursome gave Madigan allies jobs and contracts at the utility in exchange for an easier path for ComEd-supported legislation in Springfield.
The four defendants were stoic as Judge Harry Leinenweber read the verdict late Tuesday afternoon. The benches in the courtroom were filled with friends and family of the defendants, and sniffles could be heard in the audience as the judge read the guilty counts.
Defendants declined to comment as they left the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, though Pramaggiore’s attorney, Scott Lassar, briefly spoke to reporters, saying only that his team was “disappointed in the ruling” and planned to appeal.
The six-week trial was borne of a wide-ranging federal corruption probe that has rocked Illinois politics and ultimately unseated Madigan, who had been the longest-serving legislative leader in the nation. The former speaker faces related criminal racketeering charges in his own trial, set for next April.
After the verdict Tuesday, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Morris Pasqual, acknowledged that the bribery alleged in this case wasn’t about cash flowing to Madigan, but rather a more intangible benefit: increased political capital.
“This was not the $10,000 in a grocery bag in the back room; it was much more complex,” Pasqual told reporters, flanked by the assistant U.S. attorneys who prosecuted the case. “And the dollar amounts involved and the gain involved was much more significant as well. So it was a different type of (bribery) case.”
Pasqual said the government was “gratified” that “the jury saw it for what it was.”
Tuesday’s verdict could bolster prosecutors’ case against Madigan, who, in the course of the trial, was revealed as the initial target of the feds’ investigation which opened in late 2014.
Since then, the probe has grown to encompass more than a dozen high-profile players in the state’s political ecosystem.
The jury deliberated for approximately 27 hours since getting the case last Tuesday afternoon. A sentencing date was not set before court adjourned.
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, jury member Amanda Schnitker Sayers said the jury grew to like the defendants over the course of the trial.
“All in all, they’re good people that made bad decisions,” she said.
Schnitker Sayers said the jury stayed away from discussing Madigan outside of his role in the case at hand, but said they came to believe the speaker’s involvement with ComEd “was key.”
“He really did cause this all to happen,” she said. “If it wouldn’t have been for him, these people would not have been in the position that they would need to commit crimes in the first place.”