Madigan’s jurors say they have a decision on 17 positions, stagnated in another 12

The jury members at the trial of the former president of the House of Representatives, Michael J. Madigan, told the judge in a note on Wednesday morning that they have reached a unanimous decision on 17 positions, but it is unlikely that they can Agree in another 12.

“We have made a unanimous decision on 17 positions,” jury told the John Blakyy district judge. “We have done our best to make a unanimous decision on the remaining 12 counts and we have not been able to do it. We believe that this impasse will not be overcome. ”

Madigan’s lawyer, Dan Collins, suggested accepting the verdict on 17 and moving through the null trial about the other 12 charges. Michael McClain’s lawyer, Patrick Cotter, had a similar response.

Prosecutors said they were “likely to take a partial verdict.” Atty Assistant. Amarjet Bhachu told the judge “the election is totally” of the jury members about whether to return a partial verdict.

The lawyers and the judge continued to discuss the issue from 10:30 am

Madigan and his former associate, Michael McClain, are accused of an accusation of organized crime conspiracy of 117 pages. Madigan faces 23 positions, and McClain faces six, for a total of 29. It is not clear how many of the 17 charges in which the jurors agree they apply to Madigan.

The news came almost 65 hours in the jury’s deliberations. The panel of eight women and four men listened to more than 60 witnesses and a full week of final arguments before. They began to deliberate On the afternoon of January 29.

The trial has covered four months in total, including 11 weeks of testimony.

Prosecutors argued that Madigan was looking for “Power and profits” in five schemes that revolve around their firm of fiscal appeals and former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis, as well as Comed and AT&T Illinois.

Since the deliberations began, the jury’s notes mostly involved programming problems and requests for office supplies. The jury identified his foreman, a man who lives in the 19th neighborhood and said during the jury selection that he did not want to be chosen for the panel.

But the panel also sent two previous substantive notes. In one, they asked about the evidence related to the efforts of Madigan and McClain to install the businessman Juan Ochoa at the Comed Board. In the other, they questioned instructions related to wire fraud and the use of an interstate installation to promote illegal activity.

Madigan is accused of directing a criminal company For almost a decade, designed to improve their political power and financial well -being, as well as to reward their allies. McClain, a former legislator and lobbyist for a long time for Comed, is accused of acting as a Madigan agent.

The prosecutors say that Comed eight paid five allies of Madigan in an attempt to make Madigan see more favorably in the comed legislation. The recipients were the former members of the Council of the City of Chicago, Frank Olivo and Michael R. Zalewski, the former Cook County Registrar Edward Moody, former state representative Edward “Eddie” Acevedo and Madigan’s campaign worker Raymond Nice for a long time.

AT&T Illinois also paid Acevedo $ 22,500 in 2017, since the public services company was trying to approve crucial legislation in Springfield.

The federals say that Madigan also used Solis, who served as president of Zoning of the City Council, to direct business to his private law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner.

Madigan spent 36 years as the leader of the House of Representatives of Illinois, the longest tenure of any leader of the House of Representatives in the Nation.

The deliberations in the trial have lasted more than any of the recent trials of Chicago’s high profile corruption. McClain was convicted For a separate panel in May 2023. He and three other officials with ties with comedies were declared guilty of a long conspiracy to bribe Madigan.

That jury deliberated for 27 hours.

Ex Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke He was also convicted of cremachada In December 2023. The jurors who considered the case against them deliberated for 23 hours.