(The Center Square) – More than a year after being convicted in a high-profile corruption case, a former ComEd leader plans to visit relatives in Italy.
A jury convicted former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore in May 2023 of nine counts of conspiracy, bribery and willfully falsifying books and records.
At trial, prosecutors presented secretly recorded videos, wiretapped phone calls and hundreds of emails to show how Pramaggiore and the three ComEd lobbyists were “the grandmasters of corruption.” Prosecutors said that the utility paid $1.3 million in jobs, contracts, and payments to Madigan’s associates over eight years in exchange for favorable treatment on legislation in Springfield.
In August, Pramaggiore and her co-defendants asked Judge Manish Shah to dismiss the indictment against them and issue an acquittal after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the federal bribery statute.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of a federal bribery statute that makes it a crime for state and local officials to accept gifts valued at over $5,000 from a donor who had previously been awarded contracts or other government benefits thanks to the official’s efforts. The ruling narrowed the federal bribery statute.
A judge has yet to rule on the motion for a new trial. In the meantime, Pramaggiore got permission to go to Italy.
In September, her attorney asked a judge to allow Pramaggiore “to travel outside the Northern District of Illinois for purposes of visiting relatives in the Piedmont area of Italy” from Oct. 25 to Nov. 5, 2024. Prosecutors didn’t object and Shah granted the request.
Pramaggiore also asked for her passport, which is now expired, from the United States Pretrial Services. The judge ordered Pretrial Services to return the passport, but defendant said Pramaggiore must return it upon her return from Italy.
The jury that convicted Pramaggiore in May 2023 had sought to send a message to politicians and others in Springfield.
“We’re tired of political corruption,” one juror said after weeks of testimony and days of deliberations ended with convictions on all counts.
No sentencing date has been set in the case.
