Michael J. Madigan, once among the most powerful figures in Illinois politics, was sentenced on Friday to 7.5 years in prison and a $2.5 million fine for his role in a bribery scheme born of the old Chicago political machine, which traded government access and contracts for jobs and favors.
Mr. Madigan, a Democrat, was convicted in federal court in February of 10 criminal counts that included conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud. The jury in the case, which deliberated for 11 days, delivered a split verdict, acquitting him on seven more charges he faced, including attempted extortion. He has denied any wrongdoing, and testified during the trial that he was simply trying to help his constituents.
On Friday, Mr. Madigan addressed the court before the sentence was read.
“I’m truly sorry for putting the people of the state of Illinois through this,” he said. “I tried to do my best. I am not perfect.”
Before reading the sentence, Judge John Robert Blakey of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois admonished Mr. Madigan, saying that he gave false testimony during the trial as “part of a willful attempt to mislead the jury.”
“You lied,” he said. “You did not have to. You had a right to sit there and exercise your right to silence. But you took that stand and you took the law into your own hands.”
Mr. Madigan, 83, was indicted in March 2022, accused of soliciting bribes from Commonwealth Edison, an electrical utility known as ComEd. Prosecutors said the utility hired associates of Mr. Madigan as subcontractors who performed little or no work, in exchange for his support of state legislation that benefited the company.
Prosecutors accused Mr. Madigan, a former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, “of leading for nearly a decade a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates.”
Sarah Streicker, an assistant U.S. attorney, said in court on Friday that a sentence of at least 12 years that prosecutors requested “is warranted and just.”
“He breached the public trust and his conduct hurt all in Illinois,” she said.
Dan Collins, one of Mr. Madigan’s lawyers, referred to the many letters written on Madigan’s behalf in arguing for leniency.
“Michael Madigan did not seek to amass power or money,” Mr. Collins said. “He led a very frugal life.”
Mr. Madigan served as speaker from 1983 to 2021, with a two-year interruption in the mid-1990s when Republicans had control of the chamber.
Federal prosecutors said Mr. Madigan’s conviction put him in a league of disgraced top-tier Illinois politicians that includes two former governors, George H. Ryan and Rod R. Blagojevich, who were convicted of federal crimes. Four of the state’s last 11 governors have served time in prison.
Mr. Madigan’s lawyers asked the judge for a sentence with no prison time, arguing that prosecutors had made Mr. Madigan out to be a “villain of their constructed narrative.”
“The government’s rhetoric ignores the jury’s verdict,” his lawyers wrote in a recent filing. “By comparing this case to cases such as former Governors Ryan and Blagojevich, the government asks this court to sentence Mike as if he was convicted of all charges. He was not.”
Judge Blakey denied a defense motion on Monday to overturn Mr. Madigan’s convictions.
Julie Bosman is the Chicago bureau chief for The Times, writing and reporting stories from around the Midwest.
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