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A federal judge on Friday set sentencing dates in January for the “ComEd Four,” a group of utility executives and lobbyists convicted by a jury earlier this week in a yearslong scheme to bribe then-powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Convicted on Tuesday were former ComEd contract lobbyist Michael McClain, Madigan’s longtime confidant; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; former ComEd executive John Hooker, the utility’s top lobbyist for years; and ComEd contract lobbyist Jay Doherty, the ex-president of the City Club, a civic forum for Chicago’s elite.
In an order posted Friday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber set the first sentencing for Jan. 11 for McClain, followed by Pramaggiore on Jan. 16, Hooker on Jan. 25 and finally Doherty on Jan. 30.
If the date holds‚ McClain’s sentencing hearing will come three months before he’s set to go on trial along with Madigan on a separate indictment charging them with racketeering conspiracy.
Typically, federal defendants are required to report to prison within a couple of months of being sentenced, but McClain’s attorneys could ask U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber to extend that date so he won’t have to prepare for his second trial from behind bars.
After deliberating for about 27 hours over five days, the jury of seven women and five men found that the ComEd Four conspired to funnel $1.3 million in payments to ghost “subcontractors,” largely through Doherty’s company, who were actually Madigan’s cronies.
The utility also hired a clout-heavy law firm run by political operative Victor Reyes, distributed numerous college internships within Madigan’s 13th Ward fiefdom and blatantly backed former McPier boss Juan Ochoa, the friend of a Madigan ally, for an $80,000-a-year seat on the utility’s board of directors.
The most serious charges carry up to 20 years in prison, though all four defendants would likely face far less given their lack of criminal history and other mitigating factors.
Madigan and McClain are set to go to trial in April 2024 on the separate racketeering charges that allege an array of corrupt acts, including the ComEd scheme as well as a similar but smaller set of allegations involving AT&T’s Illinois affiliate.
rlong@chicagotribune.com
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
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