(The Center Square) – A federal judge on Thursday sentenced former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s longtime associate to two years in prison.
Former lobbyist and state Rep. Michael McClain, D-Quincy, was convicted along with three others at the ComEd Four trial in 2023. Prosecutors said the defendants engaged in a scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.
U.S. District Court Judge Manish Shah handed down McClain’s ComEd Four sentence Thursday at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago.
Shah ordered six months of supervised release for McClain following the 24 months behind bars, but the judge did not impose a fine.
Michael McClain, a former Illinois state representative and lobbyists, arrives to a federal court in Chicago to face sentencing for corruption charges as part of the ComEd Four trial.
In a separate trial, Madigan and McClain faced 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct in connection with a scheme federal prosecutors called the “Madigan Enterprise.” The government alleged that Madigan and McClain used Madigan’s public office to secure jobs involving little or no work for their associates by advancing legislation favorable to ComEd. McClain was not convicted on any of the 23 counts in that case, but Madigan was found guilty on 10 counts in February. The former speaker was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $2.5 million.
Noting the damage the scheme did to the highest levels of state government and a publicly-regulated utility, Shah said there was no reason for McClain to abuse the system to please Madigan.
“You were the one to figure out how to get him what he wanted and how to get something in return for ComEd,” the judge told McClain.
Shah said what McClain and Madigan did was “unquestionably illegal” and said McClain should not have been funneling money behind phony contracts and invoices to curry favor with the speaker.
“You chose his way, and the consequences of that choice are yours to bear. He was more important to you than your ostensible clients,” Shah said.
The judge said “Madigan Electric” was a term for the Chicago Electricity Bureau, referencing how Madigan’s people got jobs in the city government department.
In this case, Shah said, “Madigan Electric included ComEd itself.”
Last Monday, Shah sentenced former ComEd Chief Executive Officer Anne Pramaggiore to two years in prison and ordered her to pay a fine of $750,000.
Shah sentenced former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker on July 14 to 1.5 years in prison and ordered him to pay a $500,000 fine.
In 2020, ComEd agreed to pay $200 million to resolve a criminal investigation into the years-long bribery scheme. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, ComEd admitted it arranged jobs, vendor subcontracts and payments in a bid to influence Madigan.
The fourth ComEd Four defendant, former contract lobbyist Jay Doherty, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5.
During sentencing Thursday, Shah recognized McClain’s positive actions in the community over the years.
“I do see a lot of good,” Shah said.
The judge noted McClain’s “serious” health condition before announcing the sentence but then said he concluded that a prison term was necessary.
When Shah gave McClain the opportunity to speak, the defendant complimented his attorney, Patrick Cotter, and he would stand with the materials submitted on his behalf.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said McClain was the manager of a corrupt bribery scheme and held the keys to Madigan’s kingdom.
“Put simply, Mr. McClain put Mr. Madigan’s demands above all else, including the law,” MacArthur said.
The veteran prosecutor said McClain pushed ComEd to hire woefully unqualified interns and job applicants favored by Madigan.
MacArthur said McClain allowed Madigan to use ComEd “like a benefit-fulfillment warehouse” so the utility company could get the legislation it wanted in return.
MacArthur compared the “well-oiled” communication among McClain, Madigan, Pramaggiore and former ComEd executive and cooperating witness Fidel Marquez to the Chicago Cubs’ legendary double-play combination, Tinker to Evers to Chance.
The prosecutor referenced a call from February of 2019 during which McClain said Pramaggiore’s replacement as ComEd CEO, Joe Dominguez, would have to play the illegal bribery scheme that Hooker and Pramaggiore had been playing for years or ComEd would lose hundreds of millions of dollars by not getting favorable legislation approved by Madigan.
“Mr. McClain’s participation in this bribery tipped the scales in the Illinois House,” MacArthur said.
On Feb. 20, 2019, McClain told Pramaggiore and Hooker about the importance of responding quickly to Madigan.
“There’s no one right now that I can actually tell our friend, ‘This is the lead, and when you call that guy will snap to or that gal will snap to and know what to do and and get back to you.’ I was the lead, but every time I called up John or you, you guys did things,” McClain said during the call.
Citing McClain’s health, government attorneys revised their initial sentencing recommendation from 70 months to 36 months. MacArthur said prosecutors tried to ensure that McClain would receive adequate medical care in prison.
McClain’s defense attorney, Patrick Cotter, acknowledged McClain’s wife and three adult children who supported him in court throughout the trial.
“Mike McClain is a good man. He has a good heart. He has a very good soul,” Cotter said, adding that the first thing McClain asked for before sentencing was the opportunity to offer his support to his codefendant and friend, John Hooker.
Cotter said McClain was born into politics and noted that his father was also a state representative.
“He’s spent his entire adult life in Springfield,” Cotter said.
Cotter said McClain continues to be proud of many of the people he helped get jobs.
“In his heart, Mike believed that trying to help politicians and people get jobs was acceptable,” Cotter said. “He did not intend to bribe Madigan.”
Cotter said McClain knew he could help himself by testifying against others.
“He didn’t do it, because he’s not that man,” Cotter said.
Cotter said any prison sentence would be serious for the 77-year-old first-time offender. He said McClain was on more than a dozen medications just to keep him alive.
Cotter said McClain, as a convicted felon, had been economically ruined by the federal cases and said McClain had lost his life savings, his house and the pension he earned as a state rep.
“I ask you for a sentence for Mike McClain that includes hope,” Cotter concluded.
The judge discussed sentencing enhancements and decreases before announcing his calculated sentencing recommendations: 37-46 months in prison, a fine of between $15,000 and $5,000,000 and supervised release of 1-3 years.
Shah said McClain did not prove he was not aware that falsifying records was against the law.
Shah said McClain was aware that ComEd was subject to regulations and that the company kept books and records.
“He knew that he had to submit invoices to ComEd, so he knew that ComEd had internal controls,” Shah said. “The no knowledge and safe harbor with regard to imprisonment does not apply here.”
The judge said the level of concealment was more sophisticated than the typical offense of this kind.
“Mr. McClain’s invoices were literally false,” Shah said.
The judge said McClain did not have direct control over ComEd, but he did “move” fellow contract lobbyist Doherty to do things.
University of Illinois Chicago professor emeritus Dick Simpson explained why jurors in the Madigan case delivered a different verdict for McClain earlier this year.
“I think in the Madigan case the jury assessed that Madigan was the prime mover, and therefore they didn’t want to produce a guilty verdict to McClain. I don’t know that they knew that he’d already been convicted on similar charges in the ComEd case,” Simpson told The Center Square.
McClain is scheduled to report to prison Oct. 30 at 2 p.m.
Cotter asked if McClain could be assigned to a federal prison in Springfield, Missouri or Rochester, Minnesota. Cotter also asked for three weeks to file a request for bail pending appeal.
