{"id":14782,"date":"2025-07-25T16:38:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=14782"},"modified":"2025-07-25T16:38:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:38:50","slug":"ex-lobbyist-mike-mcclain-sentenced-to-two-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/14782-ex-lobbyist-mike-mcclain-sentenced-to-two-years-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Lobbyist Mike McClain Sentenced to Two Years in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_print\"Print<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Longtime Springfield lobbyist Mike McClain, who spent years as a close friend and advisor to ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for his role in a bribery scheme targeted at the former speaker.<\/span><\/p>\n

McClain, 77, was the marquee defendant in 2023\u2019s \u201cComEd Four\u201d trial and the third of his co-conspirators to be sentenced for their convictions related to the yearslong scheme. As electric utility Commonwealth Edison\u2019s top contract lobbyist, McClain pushed for the company to give jobs and contracts to Madigan allies, which the feds say greased the wheels for major legislation the company was pushing in Springfield.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>\u2018ComEd Four\u2019 found guilty on all counts in bribery trial tied to ex-Speaker Madigan<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Before handing down his sentence Thursday, U.S. District Judge Manish Shah directly refuted McClain\u2019s repeated defense that he was merely engaging in normal and legal lobbying when he passed job recommendations from Madigan to ComEd. Shah said there was \u201cnothing wrong with … building goodwill to get a seat at the table,\u201d but said that should never have involved \u201cphony contracts, false invoices and do-nothing jobs\u201d involved in a <\/span>cumulative $1.3 million<\/span><\/a> paid to a handful of Madigan\u2019s political allies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou preferred secrecy and lies,\u201d Shah said, pointing out that McClain had not only been the architect of the ghost contractor program but also paid one of the speaker\u2019s most valuable political workers under his own contract from 2012 to 2014. \u201cYou preferred Mr. Madigan. You chose his way and the consequences of that choice are yours to bear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sentencing hearings in the ComEd Four case were put off for more than two years, in part to let the related corruption trial of Madigan himself play out. McClain was also a defendant in that trial, but the former lobbyist walked out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse without a conviction after the jury delivered a mixed verdict, including deadlocking on all six counts pertaining to both Madigan and McClain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Madigan was sentenced to 7\u00bd years in prison last month for his convictions on bribery and other corruption charges, most of which stemmed from the ComEd scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Madigan guilty of bribery as split verdict punctuates ex-speaker\u2019s fall<\/b><\/a> | <\/b>Ex-Speaker Madigan sentenced to 7 \u00bd years in prison for bribery, corruption<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

In hundreds of FBI wiretapped calls played at both trials, McClain constantly referenced his relationship with the speaker, which stretched back to the 1970s when they were both young Democratic state representatives. As he explained on one recording, he called Madigan <\/span>\u201cour friend\u201d<\/span><\/a> in order to minimize others overhearing him talking about the powerful speaker. In other key calls, he <\/span>referred to Madigan as his \u201creal client,\u201d<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>called himself the speaker\u2019s \u201cagent.\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

But for all the secretly taped conversations presented as evidence in the case, McClain attorney Patrick Cotter on Thursday told the judge: \u201cYou never heard him ask Mike Madigan to help with legislation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe never did that,\u201d Cotter said, echoing his arguments from both trials that McClain helped ComEd pass legislation through sophisticated and expensive lobbying campaigns that often took years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cotter, who has represented McClain since the day in May 2019 when the lobbyist\u2019s home was searched as part of a coordinated FBI effort, said his client\u2019s story hasn\u2019t changed since the feds asked him to cooperate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMike was told six years ago that if he would just say he intended to bribe (Madigan), he\u2019d be much better off. He could help himself,\u201d Cotter said. \u201cBut he couldn\u2019t say it then, and he can\u2019t say it today. Because in his heart, he does not believe it is true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The attorney said McClain \u201chas paid a very large price\u201d for refusing to go along with the government\u2019s story \u201cas some others did\u201d \u2014 a reference to government witnesses including former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, who agreed to wear a wire on McClain and their colleagues. Marquez testified in both trials and will likely see his single conspiracy charge dropped.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>\u2018You agreed to wear wires against your ComEd family\u2019: Star witness in Madigan trial grilled on cross-examination<\/b><\/a> | <\/b>\u2018You had a choice to make\u2019: Defense paints cooperating witness in ComEd trial as opportunistic<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur, a prosecutor in both cases, said McClain\u2019s willingness to be used as a conduit between Madigan and ComEd \u2014 McClain\u2019s biggest client \u2014 subverted the autonomy of not just a private business but a utility regulated by the state of Illinois.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt allowed Madigan to use ComEd like a benefit fulfillment warehouse, with Michael McClain taking Madigan\u2019s requests, boxing them up and delivering them straight to the speaker of the Illinois House,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shah echoed MacArthur\u2019s sentiments before handing down his sentence, referencing how decades ago, a division within Chicago\u2019s Department of Streets and Sanitation \u2014 where the speaker\u2019s father and eventually a young Madigan worked \u2014 was nicknamed \u201cMadigan Electric\u201d for the speaker\u2019s ability \u201cto get people jobs in that bureau.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like with your help, \u2018Madigan Electric\u2019 included ComEd itself,\u201d the judge said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the $1.3 million paid out in do-nothing contracts with Madigan allies, ComEd was also pressured to hire constituents of Madigan\u2019s and those connected to those in the speaker\u2019s orbit. McClain could be pushy about those applicants, as well as students from Madigan\u2019s 13th Ward on Chicago\u2019s Southwest Side, who were hired as interns through a separate process than competing candidates.<\/span><\/p>\n

McClain got ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore involved in other matters, including the speaker’s push for a political ally\u2019s appointment to ComEd’s board and the renewal of a multi-year contract for a law firm owned by Democratic fundraiser and Madigan ally Victor Reyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

MacArthur on Thursday quoted from a 2016 email McClain wrote to Pramaggiore about the flagging contract negotiations, which he warned might \u201cprovoke a reaction from our Friend.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Madigan co-defendant warned ComEd CEO not to \u2018provoke a reaction from our Friend\u2019<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI know the drill and so do you. If you do not get involve(d) and resolve this issue of 850 hours for his law firm per year then he will go to our Friend,\u201d McClain wrote of Reyes. \u201cOur Friend will call me and then I will call you. Is this a drill we must go through?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Pramaggiore was also sentenced to two years in prison, while former ComEd executive John Hooker received an 18-month sentence last week. Lobbyist Jay Doherty, who agreed to be used as a pass-through for the clouted do-nothing contractors, faces sentencing in early August.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Former ComEd CEO sentenced to 2 years for bribery scheme targeted at Madigan<\/b><\/a> | <\/b>John Hooker, first of \u2018ComEd Four\u2019 to be sentenced, gets 1\u00bd years in prison<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

All four co-defendants received across-the-board guilty verdicts after their 2023 trial, but Shah earlier this year tossed the convictions on most of the bribery counts, only leaving in place an overarching conspiracy charge. Their sentences are based on that count, as well as charges involving having falsified ComEd\u2019s books and records in the co-conspirators’ efforts to further the bribery scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Judge grants retrial on most bribery counts in \u2018ComEd 4\u2019 case nearly 2 years post-verdict<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Prosecutors won\u2019t pursue a retrial on the bribery charges and have been asking Shah to dismiss the counts after each sentencing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the feds had originally asked Shah to impose a near-six-year sentence on McClain, Pramaggiore\u2019s and Hooker\u2019s lighter sentences \u2014 along with the former lobbyist\u2019s significant health challenges \u2014 prompted prosecutors to downgrade that recommendation to 36 months, which they announced in court on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Feds seek nearly 6 years in prison for Madigan confidant Mike McClain<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Unlike hefty fines the judge ordered from Pramaggiore and Hooker, the judge declined to fine McClain; Cotter had referenced the \u201cfinancial ruin\u201d that the last six years had brought on McClain, and Shah agreed the former lobbyist didn\u2019t have the means to pay a large sum.<\/span><\/p>\n

McClain was stoic while the judge read his sentence but began crying as he started hugging his similarly tearful family after the hearing, starting with his wife, Cinda. Later, McClain left the courthouse with Cotter and his family, avoiding reporters gathered in the lobby.<\/span><\/p>\n

Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Longtime Springfield lobbyist Mike McClain, who spent years as a close friend and advisor to ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEx-Lobbyist Mike McClain Sentenced to Two Years in Prison - Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/14782-ex-lobbyist-mike-mcclain-sentenced-to-two-years-in-prison\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-Lobbyist Mike McClain Sentenced to Two Years in Prison - 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