Feds say Michael Madigan should get 12½ years in prison

In a blistering memo filed Friday night, federal prosecutors say former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan deserves a 12 ½-year prison sentence partly because, “with his back against the wall,” he got on the witness stand at trial and chose to “lie to protect himself.”

The feds say it demonstrates Madigan’s “lack of integrity and candor, and his interest in prioritizing his own self-interest over the truth.”

All told, they said, Madigan added “another sordid chapter to Illinois’ storied reputation of corruption and ‘pay to play’ politics.”

“Time after time, Madigan exploited his immense power for his own personal benefit by trading his public office for private gain for himself and his associates,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker wrote in a 72-page memo to U.S. District Judge John Blakey.

Madigan, the country’s longest-serving state House leader, is bracing to learn his fate June 13, when he’s due to be sentenced by Blakey. The hearing comes four months after a jury convicted the Southwest Side Democrat of a bribery conspiracy, wire fraud and other crimes.

This report was published in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times. For more, visit chicago.suntimes.com.