In yet more big corruption news from the left, the former Illinois Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, was sentenced to years in prison and a multi-million dollar fine over a corruption case involving his use of passing state-level legislation to enrich his friends and allies while Speaker of the House.
As background, the 83-year-old, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, was a major powerbroker in the state during his heyday, and was once known as “the Velvet Hammer” for his forceful yet unabrasive style of leadership. He was long accused of corruption and finally convicted on February 12 of this year.
In that case, the jury found him guilty on ten counts of corruption, all of which were related to an overarching racketeering conspiracy charge, though the jury remained deadlocked on that charge and so he wasn’t convicted of it. Still, the case was one of the largest corruption cases ever seen in Chicago.
Madigan’s guilty verdict involved charges of conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud involving Illinois’ largest utility provider, ComEd. Additionally, Madigan faced the same sort of charges over incidents that occurred when Madigan tried to get a state board job for a Chicago alderman. Though he faced very similar charges and allegations related to an apartment building, a parking lot in Chinatown, and legislation for AT&T, the jury either acquitted him on those or remained deadlocked.
In any case, sentencing for those charges occurred on Friday, June 13. Prosecutors sought a `twelve and a half year sentence, while his attorneys were pushing for just five years of probation and claiming he was a generally loyal public servant who needed to remain at home so that he could care for his ailing wife.
U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey wasn’t buying that argument, and sentenced Madigan to seven and a half years in prison and to pay a $2.5 million fine. Commenting on the sentencing, Judge Blakey noted that the federal sentencing guidelines would allow him to stick Madigan in jail for 105 years, as he not only was convicted of numerous corruption charges but also perjured himself during the trial.
Hammering the corrupt lawmaker for that, Judge Blakey noted that Madigan could have used his right to remain silent, but instead spoke and perjured himself. He said, “You lied. You did not have to. You had a right to sit there and exercise your right to silence. But you took the stand and you took the law into your own hands.”
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Madigan, for his part, had spoken before the sentencing hearing and tried to win some mercy from the judge by apologizing, saying, in what seemed like very disingenuous fashion, “I’m truly sorry for putting the people of the state of Illinois through this. I tried to do my best to serve the people of the state of Illinois. I am not perfect.”
Not buying that either, Judge Blakey roasted Madigan over the coals for going out of his way to commit crime after crime. He said, rebuking the long-serving, very corrupt legislator, “Being great is hard. Being honest is not. It’s hard to commit crimes. It actually takes effort.”
Featured image credit: Base image By illinoislawmakers – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7C51rHSd6w, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37103414