Overview
- A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit, following Tuesday’s arguments in Chicago, ordered Anne Pramaggiore and Michael McClain released on bond and said Pramaggiore will get a new trial, with a written opinion to follow.
- Judges pressed prosecutors on whether the jury’s 2023 conspiracy verdict could rest on an invalid bribery theory that dominated the trial record.
- The shift stems from the Supreme Court’s 2024 Snyder decision, which allows only quid pro quo bribes tied to a specific official act and treats after-the-fact gifts as legal gratuities.
- A trial judge last year threw out the standalone bribery counts but kept convictions for conspiracy and falsifying ComEd’s books, and prosecutors proceeded to sentencing rather than retry bribery.
- Pramaggiore and McClain had been serving two-year terms for months, their co-defendants John Hooker and Jay Doherty did not appeal and are already out, and the ruling could weigh on former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s separate appeal.