Rockford Sun

Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) has shared her thoughts on the utility trial that ended with a guilty verdict for a former Illinois House Speaker.

“We have had an opportunity to tackle ethics in our statehouse for years,” McCombie wrote in a Facebook post. “This trial has been a costly seven-week reminder of just what is wrong in state government. This guilty verdict has proven that the system of doing business in Springfield is broken. This should not have been the first step to rooting out corruption in Illinois, but after today, it is clear there must be a sense of urgency in bringing back the people’s trust in state government.”

McCombie was elected to represent the individuals living in the 71st District in 2016 and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Western Illinois University. She has also served as mayor of Savanna and in her personal life is a real estate broker with MelFoster Company.

Michael Madigan,79, was indicted on federal charges of racketeering and bribery according to a U.S. Department of Justice indictment issued on March 2.

The most severe of the 22-count indictment alleges that Madigan spearheaded a criminal ring for roughly 10 years with the objective of furthering his political power and his own financial gain, along with those of political affiliates.

Aside from his role as speaker, Madigan used his power as representative of Illinois’s 22nd District, committeeman for Chicago’s 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization and partner at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner to enhance his illegal endeavors.  

A Madigan associate, Michael McClain, utilized the utility company Commonwealth Edison, to pay Madigan and his allies.

The trial known as Com Ed Four finished this week after five days of jury deliberation, according to NBC Chicago 5. All four defendants in this trial, "former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan confidant Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former ComEd consultant Jay Doherty. All pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including bribery conspiracy, and all four were found guilty on all counts."

Chicago 5 further stated that Pramaggiore was convicted of one count of conspiracy, four counts of public corruption, and four counts of falsification of accounting books and other records. Former ComEd Lobbyist John Hooker was convicted of conspiracy, one count of bribery, and four counts of falsification of accounting books and other records.

Company consultant Jay Doherty was convicted of a single count of conspiracy, one count of bribery, and four counts of falsification of accounting books and other records. McClain was convicted of conspiracy, four counts of bribery, and four counts of falsification of accounting books and other records. 

He and Madigan will face a separate racketeering trial set for April 2024, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The paper had this to say in a Jan. 9 article: "(Madigan) ended his record-breaking tenure as Illinois’ House speaker amid the burgeoning scandal two years ago. His trial would amount to the biggest public corruption trial at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse since the trials of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. In October, the feds expanded their racketeering conspiracy case against Madigan and McClain, alleging they worked with one-time AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza to have $22,500 paid to ‘former state Rep. Edward Acevedo amid an attempt to influence Madigan in favor of the company.’"