(NBC CHICAGO)-Jurors found all four defendants in the highly publicized "ComEd 4" trial guilty on all counts Tuesday.
The verdict comes after a week of deliberations in the case, in which the defendants are accused of seeking favors for Illinois' largest electric utility by arranging $1.3 million in contracts and payments for associates of a powerful state politician.
The four people on trial are 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.
Madigan is not in court and faces his own trial in April 2024, after being charged with racketeering in a separate indictment. He was, however, a key part of the evidence presented over 17 days.
Central to the current trial is an allegation that ComEd paid $1.3 million to five Madigan allies through various intermediaries, including a consulting firm owned by Doherty. The recipients of that money allegedly did little or no work for it, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said the defendants knew it.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Amar Bhacu told jurors the defendants were careful not to disclose their alleged scheme.
“We are not talking about amateurs here. We are not talking checkers; we are talking chess. When it came to chess, Mr. McClain and the others were grand masters at corruption,” he said.
The government said legislation pulled ComEd back from the brink of bankruptcy.
The defendants say there was no criminal conspiracy, but they were building good will, just as any good lobbyist would have done.
Check back for more on this developing story.
