(The Center Square) – Court proceedings have resumed at the bribery and racketeering trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain.
Government attorney Sarah Streicker played three recordings from late November and December 2018, starting with a phone call between Madigan and McClain. During the call, Madigan said that he advised then Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker to “wipe out” the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board and remove the agency’s chair, Bob Schillerstrom.
Streicker also played a call to McClain from former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, who was convicted of 18 corruption counts last year.
In another call, then state Rep. Michael Zalewski, D-Riverside, told McClain that he would like his wife Carrie to be appointed to the Illinois Commerce Commission. McClain recommended that Zalewski write a note to Madigan about the request.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker appointed Carrie Zalewski to the ICC in 2019, and she served on the board until 2023.
Prosecutors then called Raul Raymundo, co-founder and CEO of The Resurrection Project in Chicago, to the witness stand.
Alliant Insurance Services Senior Vice President Jennifer Gavelek testified Wednesday about The Resurrection Project’s payments to her company and commissions paid to Andrew Madigan, the son of the former speaker.
In a recording played last month, then-Speaker Madigan asked former Chicago Alderman Daniel Solis to follow up with The Resurrection Project about business for Andrew Madigan.
Gavelek testified that commissions to Andrew Madigan totaled about $43,000 from The Resurrection Project over a period of three years.
Attorneys discussed the upcoming trial schedule with Judge John Robert Blakey before the jury was seated Thursday morning. The parties agreed that next Thursday, Dec. 12 would be a day off for the jury.
Attorneys also had a discussion about the admissibility of former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo, D-Chicago, as a witness. In March 2022, Acevedo was sentenced to six months in prison for tax evasion.
Several witnesses in the Madigan trial have testified about their concerns regarding Acevedo’s behavior, including former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez and ex-Alderman Solis.
Marquez testified that Acevedo was getting paid by ComEd through a subcontractor. Former information technology professional John Gallaher of ComEd’s parent company Exelon, testified that he did not find those payments in company records. Gallaher said he did find four payments from 2012 to 2015 for campaign contributions to Citizens for Eddie Acevedo.
Madigan and McClain are charged with 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct in connection with a scheme that federal prosecutors referred to as “Madigan Enterprise.”
Prosecutors allege that ComEd and AT&T Illinois gave out no-work or little-work jobs and contract work to those loyal to Madigan to get legislation passed that would benefit them in Springfield. Four ComEd executives and lobbyists were convicted last year in a related trial, and ComEd itself agreed to pay $200 million in fines as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors.
Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021. He was speaker for all but two years between 1983 and 2021. Madigan also chaired the Democratic Party of Illinois from 1998 to 2021.
McClain was a longtime lobbyist who previously served as a state representative in Illinois’ 48th district from 1973 to 1982.
