(The Center Square) – According to a professor who has studied public corruption, it might be a good thing that prosecutors are seeking $3.14 million in forfeiture proceeds from convicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Connie Mixon, professor of political science and director of the Urban Studies Program at Elmhurst University, said convictions and prison sentences have not kept many of the state’s elected officials from committing crimes up to this point.
“We keep having these guilty corruption cases over and over and over again, but corruption persists,” Mixon told The Center Square.
On Feb. 12, a jury convicted Madigan on 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud and use of a facility to promote unlawful activity. Madigan was found not guilty on seven counts, and the jury deadlocked on six counts involving Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain.
Madigan’s sentencing is scheduled June 13 at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago.
Mixon suggested that forfeiture trials might make politicians pause before they engage in corrupt acts.
“If there is also the fear, in addition to being found guilty and sentenced, if there’s also financial ramifications associated with that, that may be an additional means by which we as citizens can hold elected officials accountable. That may serve as a deterrent,” Mixon said.
Along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Streicker, Diane MacArthur and Julia Schwartz, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Morris Pasqual submitted a motion Friday saying Madigan should pay $3.14 million in forfeiture.
Prosecutors said the amount represents the money ComEd paid to Madigan “subcontractors” between 2011 and 2019 and to the Reyes Kurson law firm between 2012 and 2019. The subcontractors listed were former Chicago aldermen Frank Olivo and Michael Zalewski, former precinct workers Raymond Nice and Edward Moody, and former state Rep. Edward Acevedo, D-Chicago.
The motion stated that, because the payments were bribes, the entire amounts are proceeds subject to forfeiture.
Madigan’s defense team filed a memorandum Friday seeking acquittal or a new trial for their client. The former speaker’s lawyers repeated claims they made during the trial that the court made errors in admitting and excluding evidence.
The memorandum signed by Madigan attorneys Dan Collins, Lari Dierks, Thomas Breen and Todd Pugh said “numerous” instructional and evidentiary errors lessened the government’s burden and allowed prosecutors to “present and argue evidence in a misleading and confusing way.”
Madigan’s team highlighted Judge John Robert Blakey’s decision to admit government exhibit 0156, a recording of a telephone conversation between Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain on Aug. 4, 2018.
During the call, McClain reminded Madigan of a ComEd deal for former labor union executive Dennis Gannon.
“You remember we got him that contract, maybe five years ago now, whenever it was, for a buck-fifty a year?” McClain said.
Jurors then heard the former speaker’s response.
“Some of these guys have made out like bandits, Mike,” Madigan told McClain.
“Oh my God, for very little work, too,” McClain said.
Blakey only admitted the recorded call after Madigan took the stand in his own defense and testified that he became angry when he heard evidence that several of his allies had been getting paid for do-nothing jobs.
Madigan testified that he expected people to work if he recommended them for a job.
The former speaker’s attorneys said the recording was “prejudicial” and noted that one juror referred to it as, “most significant.”
The motion said the court should have excluded several other pieces, including evidence that Madigan helped the wife of state Rep. Jaime Andrade, D-Chicago, find a job, allegations of sexual misconduct against former Madigan staffer Kevin Quinn, alleged sexual harassment by former Madigan chief of staff Tim Mapes and evidence related to former state Rep. and Madigan ally Lou Lang, D-Skokie.
Madigan’s lawyers also claimed that the evidence presented did not support the verdict and that the jury was given erroneous instructions.
Madigan served in the Illinois House for 50 years. He was speaker for all but two years between 1983 and 2021.
Madigan also chaired the Democratic Party of Illinois for 23 years and led the 13th Ward Democratic Organization on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
