An expert at rounding up support, ex-Speaker Michael Madigan leaning on letters at corruption sentencing

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

Over his five decades in elected office, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan knew how to round up support, both in Springfield to pass legislation about tough issues and in the crucial precincts of tight legislative races to keep his Democratic majority.
Now, with his sentencing on his corruption conviction imminent, Madigan is placing fervent hope on the backing of a wide range of supporters, outlined in more than 200 letters to the federal judge who will decide Madigan's fate.
Many of Madigan's backers are people with personal or political ties that run long and deep, such as current and former lawmakers, lobbyists, staffers, judges, campaign contributors, ward heelers, labor leaders, clergy and, of course, family. His ailing wife was allowed to send a special video pleading for mercy, and his daughter, former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, also weighed in with poignant memories of her father's guidance.
The former chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois also received support from old-guard establishment movers and shakers who served in the inner circle of Madigan's legendary mentor, Mayor Richard J. Daley — the politician who perfected the city's Democratic machine politics.
Other contributions came from the owners of some of Madigan's favorite restaurants — a frequent topic of the many wiretaps played at trial — with one detailing the speaker's go-to salmon dish. Multiple letters also came in from people from ordinary walks of life recalling favors bestowed by the former speaker, from helping to land a college scholarship to an opportunity to work in Madigan's 13th Ward headquarters at 65th and Pulaski.
Here's who wrote a letter of support for former House Speaker Michael MadiganSubmitting testimonials to a defendant's character and previous good deeds is a time-honored tradition in criminal sentencing proceedings, but how much they actually sway the judge varies widely from case to case. Invariably, the letter writers offer no insight into the crimes committed by the defendant, and they can often run together into a mishmash of accolades that border on maudlin.
But they can also be effective. More than a decade ago, U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras stunned everyone by handing probation to billionaire Beanie Babies founder Ty Warner in a massive tax-evasion case, saying he was swayed by the 70 letters he received in support of Warner detailing his charitable works, which included a donation for tsunami relief in Japan.
Last year, a cache of effusive letters clearly moved U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall in sentencing former 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke to only two years in prison for a series of shakedowns. 'I have never in all my career seen the letters that I have received for Mr. Burke,' Kendall said, adding it was hard to believe how many funerals Burke had attended.
Now, a big question hanging over Madigan's sentencing hearing Friday is whether the letters U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey received on Madigan's behalf will help persuade him to go easy on the longest-serving speaker in American history.
Blakey has a wide range of possible sentences at his discretion, and the difference between the recommendations from each side is stark. Prosecutors have asked for 12 1/2 years in prison, while the ex-speaker's team requested five years of probation, with the first year on home confinement.
Ron Safer, a former chief of the U.S. attorney's criminal division who is now a private attorney, said in his experience, it's letters from ordinary citizens that resonate more with judges overseeing public corruption cases, especially when they say a defendant helped them out and asked for nothing in return.
They 'count significantly more' than letters from fellow elected officials, said Safer, a partner at Safer, Riley, Holmes and Cancila LLP. 'Other politicians, you know, you've got, 'There but for the grace of God go I,' but real people who the defendant helped along the way with nothing to gain, those are the ones that really count in my view.'
Even as a prosecutor, Safer said, the letters could help him determine whether to 'temper my recommendation or certainly my fervor for a (harsh) sentence.'
'All I knew was the crime, and it was very helpful in fashioning my own presentation to the court at sentencing to know about the other 99.9% of the defendant's life,' he said.
Renato Mariotti, also a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, said judges are required to consider 'all of the history and characteristics' of a defendant when fashioning a sentence.
'So letters are a tool that defense counsel use to bridge the gap between what judges see at trial and … the complete picture of the defendant that the judge is required to consider,' said Mariotti, now a partner at Paul Hastings LLP.
Adding to the intrigue is that Madigan, once the most powerful politician in Illinois who set a national record of 36 years as a state legislative leader, has developed plenty of reasons over the years for people to love or hate him — or a bit of both.
Many times Madigan's bitter political enemies respected his political acumen, including when he outfoxed them. And Madigan's dedication to providing service to constituents — a point Kendall noted in sentencing Burke — is reflected in the letters submitted to Blakey.
But there is no question that Madigan loyalists, whose careers and political success depended on Madigan's blessing, turned out in droves for what may be the final time they can line up to sing the praises of the man who made them.
Former Democratic Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride, who won two of three bids for the high court with the help of millions of dollars in Madigan-backed campaign contributions, topped the names of letter-writing ex-judges with ties to Madigan, a major influence in shaping the judiciary.
Kilbride previously wrote a letter on behalf of Timothy Mapes, the ex-speaker's chief of staff who is currently in prison for lying to a grand jury investigating Madigan, calling Mapes a 'man of many admirable talents.'
Over and over, Madigan's letter writers tell of a truthful, honest man whose word was his bond, echoing a decades-old theme repeated on both sides of the aisle in Springfield, including from folks who, at times, disagreed strongly.
Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar called Madigan 'someone you could trust and count on when things got tough.' A draft of a letter to the editor of a newspaper that had been written by the late GOP Gov. James R. Thompson was also submitted, calling Madigan a man of honesty and integrity with a 'deep devotion' to the state. A separate letter came from Jayne Carr Thompson, the late governor's wife who was once herself touted as a potential federal judge.
More than 20 former or current lawmakers sent letters of support, including a small brigade who left the House and later lobbied their former colleagues.
Among the ex-lawmakers were three of Madigan's former majority leaders: Barbara Flynn Currie and Greg Harris of Chicago and longtime lobbyist Jim McPike, the Alton lawmaker who held back the gavel for an extra few minutes so that Madigan and Thompson could round up votes beyond a midnight deadline in 1988 to pass legislation to build the White Sox baseball stadium. In turn, Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf also filed a letter on Madigan's behalf.
Former Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat who had served with Madigan in the House and became godfather to the speaker's son, urged the judge to 'take into consideration all of the good that Mike has done throughout his career and impose as lenient a sentence as possible.'
Cullerton's letter was particularly notable given that the feds highlighted a wiretapped call during Madigan's trial where the speaker told his longtime confidant, Michael McClain, he'd 'put the knife into Cullerton three or four times' during a contentious meeting in 2018.
'You were figuratively discussing putting a knife into Cullerton?' Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu asked Madigan at one point in his cross-examination in January.
With a chuckle, Madigan repeated, 'Correct.'
In his letter, Cullerton said he was not upset with the recording critical of him because he knew it was due to a misunderstanding.
Accolades poured in from dozens of former Madigan House staffers, including at least 15 loyalists who turned their connections and what they learned into lobbying gigs.
At least 10 letters came from insiders on McClain's handwritten 'Magic Lobbyist List,' a go-to set of friendly lobbyists who once served as lawmakers or ranking staffers with Madigan.
The ex-speaker was convicted on 10 of 23 corruption counts, but the jury deadlocked on all charges against McClain, who is scheduled to be sentenced later this summer in the separate, Madigan-related 'ComEd Four' case.
Madigan also received a letter from media mogul Fred Eyechaner, a local Democratic fund-raiser with a substantial national political footprint. He led the list of major fund-raisers who sent letters, touting Madigan's strategy in helping to pass Illinois' gay marriage law, a statute championed by Harris.
Political insider Michael Sacks also hailed the ex-speaker, having once tried to quietly help broker a state budget deal at the behest of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner but then ended up siding with Madigan upon concluding that Rauner was the 'primary obstacle' to breaking a historic two-year standoff.
Friendly letters rolled in from labor leaders whose unions came through with sizable campaign support for Madigan and his Democratic troops over the years, ranging from Daniel Montgomery of the Illinois Federation of Teachers to James Connolly of the Chicago Laborers' District Council and James Sweeney of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.
Connolly and Sweeney were both mentioned frequently at Madigan's trial as the speaker and McClain dealt with various labor issues. Prosecutors also maintained that Madigan recommended them both for state appointments. Both have served on the state tollway board.
'These letters thus demonstrate the power Madigan wielded–and to this day wields–over individuals to whom he has doled out favors,' prosecutors wrote in a recent sentencing filing. 'It is important to consider loyalty in the context of general deterrence. Loyalty to a public official, particularly one who bestows benefits, can be taken to an extreme.'
Madigan drew letters from a group of religious leaders, including the ubiquitous Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Catholic Church and Father Kenneth Velo, a priest at Old St. Patrick's Church who also weighed in on behalf of Burke.
Velo also testified as a character witness on behalf of lobbyist Jay Doherty, who was convicted in the Madigan-related ComEd Four case.
Also writing letters for Madigan were former Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine and former Chicago Board of Trade President and CEO Thomas Donovan, both establishment Democrats who worked for Mayor Richard J. Daley, the city's long-ago patronage king.
Former U.S. Rep. Bill Lipinski, a longtime Madigan ally and Democratic committeeman from the Southwest Side's neighboring 23rd Ward, weighed in along with other federal Democratic lawmakers like former Downstate U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, former Southern Illinois U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard, who Madigan supported in a failed bid for governor in 1998, and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who served in the Illinois House with Madigan.
Madigan's four adult children, Lisa, Nicole, Tiffany and Andrew, gave heartfelt stories about the man to whom they owe so much.
Lisa Madigan, who served four terms as the state's top legal officer, provided personal notes about how the powerful lawmaker's marriage to her mother dramatically improved their lives. In her lengthy letter, she also wrote: 'I know the real Mike Madigan, not the grossly distorted picture the media, his political enemies and prosecutors have painted and promoted of him over the years.'
The ex-speaker's wife, Shirley, the former chair of the Illinois Arts Council who has suffered from bouts of COVID, pneumonia and other ailments, pleaded in her video to allow her husband to stay at her side to help with her day-to-day care.
At Burke's sentencing in June 2024, Kendall went through many of the letters in detail, seemingly touched by the stories of everyday people to whom Burke reached out, unprompted, to help.
Kendall recognized that the relatively limited period of criminal conduct for which Burke was convicted at trial does not wipe away those decades of good works, but she said his many good acts described in the letters were the product of the immense power the defendant accumulated as alderman.
'He was in the business of dispensing favors,' she said.
It's a theme that Madigan's attorneys have picked up in their arguments, which have stressed the former speaker's desire to help people, even if it was in the context of a patronage job.
According to Mariotti, the massive pile of pro-Madigan letters reflects an all-out defense effort to make something stick with the judge, 'because anything we can do to move the needle obviously means a great deal to the client.'
'More essentially gives the defense more shots at the apple,' Mariotti said. 'Maybe (the judge will) find letter 36 compelling. Maybe he'll find letter 115 compelling.'