Former Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history, was found guilty on on 10 of 23 counts by a federal jury in Chicago today.
The jury deliberated on the case for more than 10 days following a marathon three months of evidence and testimony at the trial. The jury acquitted the former speaker on seven other charges and ultimately deadlocked on six counts, most of them related to his long-time confidante Michael McClain of Quincy.
McClain ultimately walked free after the jury deadlocked on the same charges. Prosecutors alleged the ex-speaker and McClain – his close friend dating back to the 1970s when they were young legislators in the Illinois House – ran a “criminal enterprise” meant to preserve and enhance Madigan’s political power, in addition to enriching them and their allies. The jury did not return a verdict in the racketeering charge against the two men.
Capital News Illinois reports that McClain spoke to reporters outside the courtroom at the Dirksen Courthouse in Chicago. Madigan exited the courthouse 20 minutes earlier, declining to comment to Chicago Tribune reporter Ray Long, who’d published a book on the former speaker in 2022, but shaking his hand and smiling before getting on the elevator down to the lobby. Madigan continued to ignore reporters while he, his attorneys, and two of his daughters walked across the street from the courthouse in the falling snow. Speaking to reporters an hour after the verdict was delivered, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Morris Pasquale said there had not yet been a decision on whether to retry Madigan on the counts over which jury had deadlocked. Still, he framed the split decision as a win.
A sentencing date for Madigan has not been reported.