Michael Madigan Sentenced To 7 ½ Years In Prison, Fined $2.5 Million

THE LOOP — Former Illinois House speaker Michael J. Madigan was sentenced Friday to 7 1/2 years in federal prison, four months after he was found guilty on a series of corruption charges that marked a stunning fall from grace for a man once known as the most powerful politician in the state.

Madigan — the longest-serving legislative leader in American history — was convicted in February by a federal jury on 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud.

The jury found the now 83-year-old Chicagoan not guilty or deadlocked on 13 other charges — including failing to reach a decision on the most serious charge, racketeering conspiracy.

Federal prosecutors had asked U.S. District Court Judge John Robert Blakey to sentence Madigan to 12 1/2 years in prison, while his defense team argued for a year of home confinement and five years of probation, according to the Tribune.

Blakey ultimately gave Madigan a 90-month prison sentence and imposed a $2.5 million fine, according to reports.

Madigan is due to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Oct. 13 to begin his sentence but one of his attorneys said the former speaker will ask to remain free pending appeal, the Sun-Times reported. 

The former House speaker did not comment as he left the courthouse Friday afternoon, after a sentencing hearing that spanned more than three hours.

Shortly before he was sentenced, Madigan rose to speak to Blakey and gave a broad apology, but did not admit guilt for any other his crimes.

“I am 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,” Madigan said, according to the Tribune.

Blakey said that Madigan’s age was important in determining his sentence but also ripped into Madigan for lying on the stand during his trial — calling it a “nauseating display,” according to the Sun-Times.

Madigan served in the Illinois House for 50 years before resigning in 2021. In the early 1980s, he kicked off a nearly four-decade run as House speaker, with only a short break in the mid-90s when Republicans took control of the chamber.

He also chaired the Illinois Democratic Party for almost 25 years, before stepping down in 2021.

Madigan’s 2022 indictment was one of several public corruption cases to hit high-profile Illinois politicians in recent years. That included former Ald. Ed Burke (14th), who was ultimately sentenced to two years in prison last year on racketeering and other charges and is currently serving time at a low-security prison in Thomson, Ill.

Madigan’s trial began in fall 2024 and lasted four months.

Prosecutors spelled out five distinct corruption schemes that centered around nearly 150 hours of recorded conversations involving the former speaker. Doug DePodesta, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Chicago field office, told reporters after the trial that agents spent about a decade investigating the case.

The most expansive of the schemes involved power utility Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), which prosecutors said Madigan used as a “personal piggybank” to reward his allies through “no-show” jobs.

Jurors found Madigan guilty of conspiracy, two counts of bribery and one count of “use of a facility to promote unlawful activity” related to the ComEd scheme, according to the Sun-Times. Madigan was found not guilty on two other counts related to ComEd.

Madigan was also convicted on six counts related to efforts to install former Ald. Danny Solis (25th) in a position on a state board seat. Solis, the government’s star witness, wore a wire after being confronted by FBI agents about his own alleged crimes. The former alderman, whose recordings were also central to Burke’s corruption trial, has avoided jail time.

Madigan was meanwhile found not guilty of four charges filed in connection with the development of what is now the Union West luxury apartment buildings in the West Loop. Jurors did not return verdicts on charges related to the failed development of a Chinatown parking lot and bribery charges involving a retiring state representative’s consulting job for AT&T Illinois.

In 2023, four former political insiders were found guilty for a nearly decade-long conspiracy to bribe Madigan to benefit ComEd — an opening act of the expansive federal probe with Madigan himself in its crosshairs.

Sentencing for the defendants in that trial — known as the “ComEd Four” — has been delayed repeatedly but is expected to finally take place this summer.

This is a developing story.

Reporter Mack Liederman contributed.

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