2 weeks Ago
The judge overseeing the bribery trial of former AT&T Illinois boss Paul La Schiazza, accused of funneling payments to an ally of Michael Madigan to win the speaker’s support, has declared a mistrial in the case. U.S.
District Judge Robert Gettleman announced his decision Thursday afternoon, a few hours after the jury had communicated to the court that they appeared to be deadlocked. Paul La Schiazza, left, leaves the Dirksen U.S.
Courthouse on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) “What happens if we feel we are at a stalemate and feel that it won’t change?” a note sent out by the jury early Thursday said.
The judge had sent the panel back to do more work. Gettleman Thursday afternoon said a follow-up note indicated the situation had not improved. “We believe there is no possibility of coming to a unanimous verdict,” the next note read.
The judge then called the jury back into his courtroom, asking the foreperson whether they were sure of the deadlock. “How much can I say?” she asked the judge. “I am absolutely positive.
” The judge told the jury he knows they tried hard and thanked them for their service, saying deadlocks are part of the system. “We need a unanimous verdict and we don’t always get it,” he said before dismissing the jury from service. Such a mistrial is declared once a judge determines a jury is hopelessly deadlocked and further deliberations will not lead to a unanimous decision.
The government is allowed to retry the case if it wishes to do so. Gettleman told the lawyers in the case to return to his courtroom Tuesday to discuss next steps. Any retrial would almost certainly take place after Madigan himself goes on trial beginning early next month.
The only earlier communication from the jury came Wednesday morning, when the panel sent the judge a note reading: “The government indicates that for a bribe there only needs to be ‘intent’ and no exchange. Is this consistent with the law?” This question seemed to hit at the heart of the case. Gettleman called the jury back out and reread several pages of the jury instructions dealing with the elements of the bribery counts, then urged them to read it again back in the jury room.
The instructions define bribery as a person giving or offering something of value to another person “with the intent to influence or reward an agents of state government in exchange for an official act.” Gettleman told the lawyers he was not surprised by the confusion because the issue is complicated. La Schiazza, 66, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in October 2022 with conspiracy, federal program bribery and using a facility in interstate commerce to promote unlawful activity.
The most serious counts carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The trial, which proceeded far quicker than the original three-week estimate, has offered an advance look at evidence that will be presented at Madigan’s own racketeering trial, which kicks off in less than three weeks. According to prosecutors, La Schiazza schemed to pay retiring state Rep.
Eddie Acevedo, a longtime Madigan acolyte, a total of $22,500 over nine months for doing little or no work for AT&T, even though he ostensibly was supposed to produce a report on the Latino caucuses in Springfield and Chicago’s City Hall. The arrangement, which was pushed by close Madigan confidant Michael McClain, came as AT&T was looking to pass the COLR bill, which stood to save the company hundreds of millions of dollars, according to trial testimony. In closing arguments Tuesday , Assistant U.
S. Attorney Sushma Raju said the wheeling and dealing gave Acevedo a payday, La Schiazza a notch in his belt and AT&T the bill they had coveted for decades. But it left one constituency in the lurch.
“It shorted the people of Illinois, who deserved a fair, transparent and honest legislative process,” Raju said. “What we got instead was a legislative process that was tainted by this defendant, who paid for the result he wanted. It was not lobbying .
.. it was a crime and Paul La Schiazza knew it.
” But the defense painted a far different picture, one of common and legal dealings between the corporate and political worlds, where companies routinely seek to curry favor with politicians in order to get them to consider their agenda. The legislation AT&T wanted passed, known by the acronym COLR, “took years of legitimate, tireless hard work,” and not just by La Schiazza, defense attorney Tinos Diamantatos told the jury in his closing remarks. “It was a team effort by AT&T to get something done lawfully and appropriately as the law allows them to do,” Diamantatos said.
“This was no bribe. ..
. The government failed to meet its burden. It wasn’t even close.
” Echoing arguments in the “ComEd Four” trial last year that featured similar accusations of bribing Madigan, Diamantatos on Tuesday called La Schiazza collateral damage in the government’s zeal to bring down the powerful speaker, and urged jurors to end the “nightmare” La Schiazza has been living since finding himself in the prosecution’s crosshairs. Madigan, 82, and McClain, 76, are scheduled to go on trial Oct. 8 on racketeering charges alleging Madigan’s vaunted state and political operations were run like a criminal enterprise while utility giants Commonwealth Edison and AT&T Illinois put his cronies on contracts requiring little or no work.
[email protected] House Speaker Chris Welch reacts to the indictment of his predecessor, former House Speaker Michael Madigan. 1965: As a first-year Loyola-Chicago law student, Chicago Mayor Richard J.
Daley appoints Madigan to a job in the city's law department. 1969: At 27 years old, Madigan is elected as 13th Ward committeeman in Chicago. 1970: Madigan is elected to a state office for the first time as a delegate to the state's constructional convention.
1971: Madigan becomes the state representative for the 22nd Illinois House District on Chicago's South Side near Midway Airport. 1972: His friend Vincent Getzendanner joins Madigan to found a law firm, Madigan and Getzendanner, which is known for handling property law. 1976: Madigan marries Shirley Murray, who has a daughter named Lisa.
Lisa was elected Illinois attorney general in 2003. 1998: Madigan is elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. 2003: Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, is sworn in as governor.
Blagojevich and Madigan fought bitterly over budgets and rarely got along. 2011: Madigan leads a historic effort to raise Illinois' income tax rate from 3.25% to 5%, the largest increase in state history.
Democrats and Gov. Pat Quinn hoped it would alleviate pressure on the budget. 2013: The Chicago Tribune reports Madigan used his influence to secure patronage hiring at the Chicago area's commuter train agency, Metra.
2015: Fierce fights with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner resulted in Illinois failing to pass a budget by the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1. Illinois would go over two years without a budget.
2016: Madigan's personal lawyer, Michael Kasper, successfully sues to block an amendment to the state constitution allowing legislative maps to be created by an independent commission, which would have taken power away from Madigan. 2016: Madigan leads a legislative effort to help Exelon, the parent company of Commonwealth Edison, secure funds for two nuclear power plants. The legislation leads to a $2.
3 billion rate hike on ComEd customers. 2017: Despite a veto from Rauner, the General Assembly passes a budget, ending over two years of negotiations. It includes an income tax increase to 4.
95%. 2018: The #MeToo movement enters the state Capitol and Madigan's inner circle. Former state Rep.
Lou Lang was accused of inappropriate conduct but later cleared. February 2018: Madigan fires aide Kevin Quinn after staffer Alaina Hampton shared messages with the Chicago Tribune describing sexual harassment from Quinn and Madigan's refusal to address the issue. Madigan settled with Hampton for $275,000.
June 2018: Madigan's chief of staff Tim Mapes resigns after allegations of inappropriate conduct toward a co-worker at the state Capitol. Employees of the Capitol, including lawmakers became required to take sexual harassment training at Madigan's direction. 2019: Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki bars Madigan, a Catholic, from receiving Holy Communion in the Diocese of Springfield after he supported a bill expanding access to abortion.
2019: FBI agents raid the homes of Madigan's closest political associates, including Mike McClain of Quincy, a former state representative and ComEd lobbyist. His phone was also tapped by the FBI. The FBI's work would eventually result in charges against McClain and others close to Madigan.
Jan. 9, 2020: Madigan declines to open an investigation by the state legislature into an email written in 2012 by McClain that refers to a "rape in Champaign." July 17, 2020: Energy provider ComEd is hit with bribery charges.
Madigan is implicated in the charges as Public Official A, the elected official the company sought to influence in exchange for his support on legislation between 2011 and 2019. Madigan said he was unaware of any attempts to influence him and did not take part in any unethical behavior. The FBI also delivered a grand jury subpoena to Madigan's state capitol office.
That day, multiple lawmakers began dropping their support for Madigan's leadership. Oct. 1, 2020: State Rep.
Stephanie Kifowit announces she will run against Madigan for speaker. It's believed to be the first time Madigan faced a serious challenge for the job from a member of his own party. Nov.
18, 2020: Four of Madigan's close associates — Anne Pramaggiore, John Hooker, Michael McClain and Jay Doherty — are charged in the ComEd probe. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email..
