Madigan Ordered to Report to Prison in ComEd Case

A federal appeals court denied former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s request to remain free while appealing his corruption conviction, ordering him to report to prison on Oct. 13 to begin serving a 7½-year sentence. Madigan was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts — including bribery conspiracy, wire fraud and Travel Act violations — tied to prosecutors’ allegations of ComEd no‑show subcontracts and efforts to steer business to his law firm. U.S. District Judge John Blakey, who sentenced Madigan in June, called his testimony dishonest and described the crimes as an “abuse of power at the highest level”; Madigan was fined $2.5 million, faces three years of supervised release and must serve at least 85% of his term. Madigan’s lawyers argued he is not a flight risk and raised complex legal and jury‑instruction issues that could warrant a new trial, but the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied bond in a one‑page order without explanation. It remains unclear where Madigan will be imprisoned, and because of the required portion of his sentence he would be about 90 before eligible for release. Related co-defendant Michael McClain was deadlocked on counts and was not retried in this case, though he was convicted in a parallel ComEd prosecution.