Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan’s request to remain free while appealing his conviction has been denied by the judge who sentenced him earlier this year to 7½ years in prison.
U.S. District Judge John Blakey wrote in a 44-page ruling that Madigan failed to raise a “substantial” question of law that would result in a reversal or new trial on all counts for which the former speaker faces imprisonment in two months.
“The fate of Madigan’s entire motion” actually rides on “routine, and meritless” objections to his wire fraud convictions, the judge wrote, adding that the former speaker “clings to false hope.”
“Frankly, Madigan does not come close to meeting this high burden, and thus, even if he were able to prevail on all issues directed at his other counts of conviction, he would still have to serve the 90-month concurrent sentences he received,” Blakey explained.
Legal experts had predicted that Blakey would reject Madigan’s request. However, the former speaker can now turn to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. An attorney for Madigan could not immediately be reached after Blakey’s ruling Friday.
Madigan has assembled a team of appellate lawyers from the Williams & Connolly law firm in Washington, D.C. They include Lisa Blatt, a well-known high court litigator who touts an 81% win rate, as well as a lawyer who has represented former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Though the judge thoroughly dispensed with Madigan’s earlier arguments that he deserved a new trial or acquittal, Madigan’s lawyers pointed to “the considerable ink spilled over the definition of ‘corruptly,’” a word that appears in a statute used to convict him.
Supreme Court justices debated the definition of that word in April 2024, but they never settled on a conclusion.
“At a minimum, the imposition of a 90-month sentence on an 83-year-old defendant should await a determination by the Seventh Circuit as to whether the theories of bribery underpinning Madigan’s conviction … are consistent with recent Supreme Court precedent,” Madigan lawyers Dan Collins and Tom Breen argued in a recent brief.
Prosecutors have said Madigan’s arguments “all lack merit” and he should report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Oct. 13, as ordered.
Under the law, Madigan needed to convince the judge that his appeal raises a substantial question of law or fact that could result in reversal or a new trial, a sentence of no prison time or a prison sentence he’d serve in less time needed to deal with his appeal.
Madigan’s appeal could take months — or even years — to play out.
A jury convicted Madigan in February of a bribery conspiracy, wire fraud and other crimes after a four-month trial that featured more than 60 witnesses. The judge then handed down Madigan’s lengthy sentence in June, finding that Madigan lied when he testified at trial.
The jury found Madigan guilty for his role in a lengthy plot in which ComEd paid $1.3 million to five of his allies over eight years to curry favor with the once-powerful Southwest Side Democrat.
The money was paid through intermediaries, and the recipients hardly did any work for the utility.
Convicted at a separate trial for their role in the plot were longtime Madigan confidant Michael McClain, ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and onetime City Club President Jay Doherty.
U.S. District Judge Manish Shah gave a pair of two-year prison sentences to McClain and Pramaggiore. He gave 18 months to Hooker and one year to Doherty.
But Madigan was also convicted for a scheme to install then-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis on a government board in exchange for his help landing business for Madigan’s private tax appeal law firm.
Solis wore a wire for the FBI after being confronted with evidence of his own crimes. He also helped the feds secure a conviction and two-year prison sentence against former Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke.
In exchange for his help, Solis managed to walk away from the investigation without a conviction.