The decade-long FBI investigation that led to Madigan’s trial roiled local politics and changed the course of Illinois history.
A federal jury has found former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan guilty of bribery conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud in a partial verdict announced Wednesday morning.
The news came nearly 65 hours into jurors’ deliberations in the case against Madigan, who broke records as the longest-serving state House leader in the nation before a widening federal corruption probe forced him from office in 2021.
The panel of eight women and four men listened to more than 60 witnesses and a full week of closing arguments before they began deliberating on the afternoon of Jan. 29. On Wednesday morning, Jurors told the judge in a note they had reached a unanimous decision on 17 counts, but were unlikely to be able to agree on another 12.
“We have come to a unanimous decision on 17 counts,” the jurors told U.S. District Judge John Blakey. “We have tried our very best to come to a unanimous decision on the remaining 12 counts and have not been able to do so. It is our belief that this impasse will not be overcome.”
Madigan’s attorney Dan Collins suggested accepting the verdict on the 17 and moving for mistrial on the 12 other counts. Michael McClain’s attorney Patrick Cotter had a similar response.
Prosecutors said they were “amenable to taking a partial verdict.” Assistant U.S. Atty. Amarjeet Bhachu told the judge “the choice is totally” the jurors’ as to whether to return a partial verdict.
The attorneys and judge continued discussing the issue as of 10:30 a.m.
Madigan and his longtime associate, Michael McClain, were charged in a 117-page racketeering conspiracy indictment. Madigan faced 23 counts, and McClain faced six, for a total of 29.
Madigan was found guilty on 10 counts related to Commonwealth Edison and efforts to secure a state board seat for former Ald. Danny Solis. He was found not guilty — or there was no verdict — on a racketeering conspiracy count related to an apartment project, a parking lot Chinatown and AT&T legislation.
There was no verdict reached against any count against McClain.
The news came nearly 65 hours into the jurors’ deliberations. The panel of eight women and four men listened to more than 60 witnesses and a full week of closing arguments before they began deliberating on the afternoon of Jan. 29.
The trial has spanned four months in all, including 11 weeks of testimony.
As he dismissed the jurors, Judge John Blakey quoted Shakespeare: “I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.”