The FBI-recorded calls played in court Thursday related to former state Rep. Lou Lang — who resigned his position in early 2019 amid sexual harassment allegations.
Mike McClain
The email was introduced as evidence in the trial of longtime Madigan chief of staff Tim Mapes, who was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice after allegedly lying to a grand jury investigating Madigan and his inner circle.
“When the defendant answered those questions, the defendant lied,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said, “not just once, but again and again and again to prevent the grand jury from finding out what Madigan had done and what Madigan had done through him.”
Tim Mapes, 68, was indicted more than two years ago on a pair of charges stemming from his alleged false testimony before a 2021 grand jury about Madigan’s relationship with longtime confidant Michael McClain.
A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a bribery charge levied against Commonwealth Edison, months after four former ComEd officials were convicted of attempting to corruptly influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
The four former Commonwealth Edison executives and officials convicted on bribery and other charges this week in the so-called “ComEd Four” case will be sentenced early next year.
“This is very clear: We do not want to stand for this sort of corruption,” juror Amanda Schnitker Sayers said during an appearance on “Chicago Tonight.”
When jurors Tuesday convicted a quad of Illinois power players on corruption charges, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan wasn’t among them. Madigan wasn’t on trial. But he was at the heart of the case, with a juror telling journalists that Madigan “really did cause all this to happen.”
Ex-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist Mike McClain, retired ComEd executive John Hooker and ex-City Club of Chicago president and former ComEd consultant Jay Doherty were each found guilty of bribery conspiracy, bribery and willfully falsifying the company’s books.
Prosecutors in the so-called ComEd Four trial say the defendants are liars and bribers. Defense attorneys say their clients are talented at their jobs, and merely were caught in a government witch hunt aimed at Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Anne Pramaggiore was one of Chicago’s most high-profile executives, serving as CEO of ComEd, as well as chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Chicago’s Board of Directors, and on the boards of DePaul University and Motorola. All of those titles are gone now and replaced with another: defendant.
As CEO of Illinois’ powerful ComEd utility company, Anne Pramaggiore had to take risks. On Thursday, she took another as she stepped to the witness stand at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse downtown, to testify in her own defense.
A former precinct chief and longtime ally of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan testified that for years he received checks from Commonwealth Edison representatives to do “little or no work” as part of an alleged scheme to corruptly influence Madigan.
Juan Ochoa testified at the ongoing trial of the “ComEd Four,” who are accused of corruptly seeking to influence Michael Madigan. Federal prosecutors claimed Ochoa’s appointment to the board was a part of that conspiracy to further garner support from the former speaker.
Fidel Marquez, the government’s witness, continued testifying for the fourth day, now under cross examination from defense attorneys seeking to show how their clients’ actions were above board when they tried to garner Madigan’s support on legislation in Springfield.
Fidel Marquez, the government’s star witness in the “ComEd Four” bribery trial, continued his testimony for a second day Tuesday as he detailed how former utility officials allegedly conspired to corruptly influence Michael Madigan.
