The federal appeals court in Chicago on Monday upheld the historic conviction of former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, finding no error in the four-month trial that ultimately led to his lengthy prison sentence.
“Michael Madigan spent nearly a decade leveraging his power as one of the highest-ranking public officials in Illinois in exchange for over $3 million of financial benefits for his close political allies,” a three-judge appeals panel concluded. “… Madigan insists that this was run-of-the-mill politics. But a jury of twelve Illinois residents saw the evidence differently. So do we.”
The 29-page opinion from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes less than three weeks after oral arguments and will likely prompt a bid by Madigan to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Michael Scudder, an appointee of President Donald Trump’s, wrote the opinion.
Joining Scudder on the panel was Judge Frank Easterbrook, appointed by President Ronald Reagan; and Judge Nancy Maldonado, appointed by President Joe Biden.
A federal jury in February 2025 convicted Madigan of a bribery conspiracy, wire fraud and other crimes. U.S. District Judge John Blakey handed Madigan a 7 ½-year prison sentence four months later, finding that Madigan lied to the jury.
Madigan then surrendered to a minimum-security prison camp in West Virginia the following October, capping a massive federal corruption probe that dated all the way back to 2014.
Madigan’s conviction centered on two schemes. In one, ComEd paid five Madigan allies $1.3 million over eight years so Madigan would look more favorably at the utility’s legislation. The money was funneled through third-party firms, and the recipients did hardly any work for ComEd.
The other involved a deal to have then-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis installed on a state board in exchange for Solis’ help landing private business for Madigan’s tax appeal law firm.
Madigan appealed, and his attorney pointed to at least three problems with his conviction. Amy Saharia argued the ComEd allegations were “far too vague,” that there were errors in the jury instructions, and that prosecutors failed to prove a quid pro quo between Madigan and Solis.
The former speaker has also enlisted Lisa Blatt, a well-known high court litigator who claims an 82% win rate before the U.S. Supreme Court. That suggests Madigan is already looking past Chicago’s federal appeals court.
Madigan led the Illinois House of Representatives for all but two years between 1983 and 2021. He held onto the gavel for two years after the feds’ investigation went public in 2019.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.