Overview
- An appeals panel in Chicago, which ruled Monday, affirmed Madigan’s 2025 jury conviction and said prosecutors showed he traded legislative help for benefits steered to his allies.
- The opinion by Judge Michael Scudder said Madigan leveraged his power for more than $3 million in benefits, including about $1.3 million ComEd funneled to five allies and $1.8 million paid to a connected law firm.
- Madigan’s team argued the case was too vague, the jury was misinstructed, and no quid pro quo was proven, but the court rejected those claims and found a clear link between official acts and the benefits after reviewing the evidence in the prosecution’s favor as appellate rules require.
- Madigan is expected to seek U.S. Supreme Court review and has added veteran high-court advocate Lisa Blatt, and a separate clemency petition remains under review.
- He is serving a seven-and-a-half-year term at a federal prison camp in Morgantown, West Virginia, and related appeals in the broader ComEd orbit continue to play out, signaling further legal ripples even as his case stands.