Crime & Law

Feds Not Yet Sure if They’ll Retry Pair of ‘ComEd Four’ Defendants After Convictions Tossed Out

Federal prosecutors have not yet decided if they’ll re-try ex-Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore and longtime lobbyist Michael McClain on charges stemming from a bribery scandal targeting convicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

A status hearing Thursday marked the first in the case since an appellate court tossed out Pramaggiore and McClain’s convictions and ordered them released from prison earlier this year. Neither were present in court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur on Thursday said that although the government is “ready to proceed” to trial, they haven’t yet decided if they will try the pair again. If they do, that trial is likely to begin in February 2027.

Federal prosecutors at trial claimed Pramaggiore was a key leader in a yearslong criminal conspiracy that sought to “corrupt the highest levels of state government” by bribing Madigan to secure his support on critical energy legislation that was beneficial to ComEd.

She and McClain — who for years acted as the former speaker’s right-hand man and “henchman,” according to prosecutors — allegedly did so by arranging for ComEd to pay $1.3 million to Madigan allies who were hired as subcontractors, but who actually did virtually no work for the utility company.

McClain, a former lobbyist whose words and voice were presented at trial through numerous emails and secretly recorded phone calls, was “unrelenting” in his efforts to secure jobs and payments for Madigan allies, prosecutors said.

They, along with ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former contract lobbyist Jay Doherty, were convicted of bribery conspiracy and willfully falsifying the utility company’s books following a monthslong trial in 2023.

Shah previously dismissed the bribery convictions and earlier this year, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out Pramaggiore and McClain’s remaining convictions and two-year prison sentences, ordering a new trial be held.

While the appellate court found issues with jury instructions, it did not rule that the pair were “entitled to judgments of acquittal,” finding instead that there was “more than sufficient evidence for the jury to have determined that the defendants made false records regarding these contracts.”

Shah, who sentenced each of the four ComEd defendants, told Pramaggiore last year she had “the power to stop this.”

“You could have said, ‘No, this is not how legislation should be done.’ You had the power to change the culture at ComEd,” Shah said during her July 2025 sentencing hearing. “When it came to Mr. Madigan and Mr. McClain, you didn’t think to change the culture of corruption. Instead, you were all in.”

Madigan was convicted last year at a separate trial over his involvement in the ComEd bribery and other corruption schemes. He’s currently serving a 7.5-year prison sentence.

Marcus Funk, who now represents Pramaggiore after joining the case this week, said he’s received 5 million pages of documents and suggested it could be difficult to prepare fully for a trial – if it happens — early next year.

But Shah told attorneys to start thinking about kicking things off next February.

“It’s obviously a case of some vintage,” he said. “It has been tried before, so in theory, people could get prepared and be ready for it.”

---