(The Center Square) – Former ComEd board member Juan Ochoa has completed his testimony at the bribery and racketeering trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Last month, ComEd general counsel and Senior Vice President Tom O’Neill testified that Madigan, then-speaker, recommended Ochoa for a position on ComEd’s Board of Directors in 2017. O’Neill said he expressed reservations about Ochoa to then-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore.
Ochoa had served as CEO of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, also known as McPier or MPEA, which was formed by the Illinois General Assembly in 1989. Ochoa also served as CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for 10 years.
As he answered questions from prosecutor Diane MacArthur, Ochoa described his relationships with various politicians. Ochoa said he did election work for then-Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1993 or 1994 and for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich between 1993 and 2007. Ochoa said he was very close to former Congressman Luis Gutierrez, as well as current U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Chicago, and former state representative and current Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, D-Chicago.
Ochoa said he met with Gutierrez and Madigan about the ComEd board seat and expressed the importance of having a Latino on the board.
Ochoa said he and Gutierrez also met with then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Ochoa said he understood that the mayor would also support his effort to be on the ComEd board.
Ochoa said he received a call from Madigan, who told him that he expected Ochoa to be appointed to the ComEd board at its meeting in August 2018. Ochoa said he later received a call from outgoing ComEd CEO Pramaggiore, who asked him if he still wanted to be on the board.
Pramaggiore’s successor, Joe Dominguez, told Ochoa in a subsequent call that the board was going through restructuring and nothing would be decided until after the general election in November 2018.
Ochoa said former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez advised him in November 2018 that Ochoa was still ComEd’s choice. In February 2019, Ochoa said Dominguez advised him that the process was moving along.
Later that month, Madigan associate and codefendant Michael McClain called Ochoa “in confidence” and said the speaker knew he was calling. McClain advised Ochoa that he would be getting a call from Dominguez to formally offer Ochoa the position on the board. Ochoa testified that he served on the ComEd board for one year. The board position paid $78,000 per year.
In cross-examination, Madigan defense attorney Todd Pugh asked Ochoa about the ways Gutierrez helped Ochoa gain support for the ComEd board position. Ochoa noted that Gutierrez had set up the meetings with Madigan and Emanuel. Ochoa told Pugh that he thanked Emanuel for his support after he had been named to the ComEd board.
In a recording prosecutors introduced from May 16, 2018, McClain told Pramaggiore that Madigan wanted Ochoa to be appointed to the ComEd board.
“I talked to him about Juan Ochoa, and he would appreciate it if you would keep pressing,” McClain said.
“Okay. Got it. I will keep pressing,” Pramaggiore answered.
McClain told Pramaggiore that Madigan had advised him about Ochoa’s possible financial issues.
“He had said, ‘I think Juan must have had some bankruptcy or financial problems.’ And his answer simply, you know, was, ‘Harry Truman declared bankruptcy.’” McClain told Pramaggiore.
Christopher Keys worked at Exelon from 1998 to 2022 and served as chief compliance and ethics officer for the company from 2017 to 2022.
After reporting to the witness stand Tuesday morning, Keys described Exelon’s code of conduct, compliance operations and internal controls. He said ComEd employees had an affirmative responsibility to report violations of the code of conduct. He said they were required to complete a certification of the code after completing training. Keys also said third-party employees were expected to follow the code.
During a morning break, attorneys discussed which questions about the code of conduct and the law would be appropriate. Judge John Robert Blakey advised attorneys which questions would be allowed.
The dispute continued after the morning break, and Blakey called for an early lunch break with the intention of resolving the issues.
After lunch, government attorney Julia Schwartz outlined three proposed questions for the witness, including provisions of ComEd’s code of conduct for employees with respect to public officials and the importance of keeping accurate records.
When asked by Blakey, Schwartz said the ComEd code of conduct was introduced during the ComEd Four trial last year and the code was discussed as it related to bribery. Schwartz also pointed to an earlier jury instruction proposed by McClain’s defense team about the description of bribery.
Blakey asked the attorneys to continue their discussion. Government attorney Amar Bhachu said he advised Keys not to use “the B word,” referring to bribery.
The jury returned from the combined morning break and lunch recess at 12:41 p.m.
Blakey issued a limiting instruction regarding the earlier discussion, saying that a violation of Exelon’s internal code of conduct is not a violation of criminal law, including federal bribery law. Blakey said the code as presented was only meant to show internal controls in place at the company.
During cross-examination by McClain defense attorney Patrick Cotter, Keys said that, generally, third-party contractors were not required to complete training and receive certification regarding the code of conduct.
Keys confirmed that Pramaggiore did complete the training and file certifications, as did former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker. Keys said there was no evidence that McClain ever completed the training or certification.
In May 2023, a jury convicted McClain, Pramaggiore, Hooker and contract lobbyist Jay Doherty of conspiracy, bribery and falsifying records in a multi-year scheme to bribe Madigan with no-show jobs, contracts and payments to associates in exchange for support with legislation that would benefit the utility’s bottom line.
Following Keys, Schwartz called Exelon principal category manager Carrie Bourque to testify. Bourque said her job included working with legal and budgeting departments to create vendor contracts, including business consulting.
Bourque said a single-source justification had to be obtained for no-bid contracts worth more than $250,000. Bourque said contracts with Doherty’s company came out of the ComEd CEO’s office.
Prosecutors displayed single-source justifications and contracts with Doherty’s company, signed by Pramaggiore, in 2017 and 2018. Bourque confirmed an amendment to the Doherty contract in 2018.
ComEd admitted in 2020 that it sought to influence Madigan by placing his associates into jobs requiring little or no work. ComEd agreed to pay a fine of $200 million and cooperate with the federal investigation in exchange for an agreement that prosecutors drop a bribery charge against the utility.
FBI Special Agent Kyle Scherrer continued his testimony Tuesday morning after initially reporting to the witness stand on Monday. Scherrer discussed federal investigators’ searches of electronic devices that belonged to McClain, former 13th Ward campaign workers Ed Moody and Ray Nice, lobbyist Shaw Decremer and former Chicago Alderman Mike Zalewski.
MacArthur said Tuesday that the government expected to call Moody to testify as soon as Tuesday afternoon. In a recording from Oct. 9, 2016, which prosecutors introduced Monday, McClain left a voicemail message for contract lobbyist Jay Doherty.
“Hey Jay, this is Mike McClain. I talked to the speaker. Speaker talked to Ed Moody. So, Speaker suggested Ed and you get together and talk, because he’s got some disclosure things he’s gonna have to do at the county board level,” McClain said on the recording.
Moody had been appointed as a Cook County Commissioner the day before and later served as Cook County Recorder of Deeds.
Madigan served in the Illinois House for 50 years and was speaker for all but two years between 1983 and 2021. He also chaired the Democratic Party of Illinois for 23 years.
McClain was a longtime lobbyist who served as a state representative from 1973 to 1982 in Illinois’ 48th district.
Madigan and McClain pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct.
The trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in downtown Chicago.
