(The Center Square) – Prosecutors on Monday took the jury in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan through nearly a decade of payments to subcontractors who they allege did little or no work for the state’s largest utility despite getting paid.
Jurors watched as Madigan associate Jay Doherty’s lobbying contract with Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison grew from $200,000 a year to more than $400,000 a year as he added subcontractors – without explanation – to his longstanding lobbying contract with ComEd.
Prosecutors allege that Madigan ordered ComEd to hire his political operatives for no-show jobs in exchange for passing legislation in Springfield that was favorable to the utility.
With Doherty’s longtime administrative assistant Janet Gallegos on the witness stand, prosecutors detailed month by month invoices that Doherty sent to ComEd, lobbying registration for the subcontractors and other details.
Last week, cooperating witness Fidel Marquez, a former ComEd executive, said former Chicago alderman Frank Olivo, longtime Madigan campaign operative Ray Nice, former Cook County Recorder of Deeds Edward Moody, and former Chicago alderman Mike Zalewski did little, if any, work for ComEd.
Yet, ComEd, a Fortune 100 company, paid the four more than $1.3 million from 2011 to 2019.
Gallegos said she never knew why the subcontractors were added to Doherty’s contract or what they did for Doherty or ComEd. She also said she never set up meetings for Olivo, Nice, Moody or Zalewski with anyone from ComEd, never saw any work they did or talked to them about the work they did.
A jury convicted Doherty – along with three other ComEd executives and lobbyists – in 2023 of trying to corruptly influence Madigan with no-show jobs, contracts and payments to associates in exchange for support with legislation that would benefit the utility’s bottom line. Although he was convicted, Doherty has yet to be sentenced as that case moves through post-conviction motions.
Gallegos testified that ComEd was Doherty’s largest and most important client by far.
On cross-examination, Gallegos testified that Doherty never listed subcontractors on his invoices, even for clients other than ComEd.
Prosecutors on re-direct went through every single one of Olivo’s lobbying registration forms with the City of Chicago. He never listed a single lobbying expense from 2011 to 2019 for office supplies; compensation to others; public education, advertising, and publications; personal sustenance, travel, and lodging or other expenses. And his log of lobbying activity was almost always blank despite collecting $12,000 each quarter.
FBI agents testified that they never found any evidence of work product for ComEd from Olivo, Nice, Moody or Zalewski on any of Jay Doherty’s electronic devices.
ComEd agreed to pay $200 million in July 2020 to resolve a criminal investigation into the years-long bribery scheme. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, ComEd admitted it arranged $1.3 million in jobs, vendor subcontracts and payments to influence Madigan. AT&T Illinois agreed to pay $23 million as part of its own deferred prosecution agreement in 2022.
Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021. He served as speaker of the Illinois House from 1983 to 1995 and again from 1997 to 2021. He wielded additional power as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois.