Feds to retry Sen. Emil Jones; Madigan sentencing hearing starts
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced they intend to retry state Sen. Emil Jones III after his April trial on charges of bribery and lying to the FBI ended in a hung jury.
Jones, a Chicago Democrat and son of former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., stands accused of agreeing to take bribes from red-light camera entrepreneur-turned-government cooperator Omar Maani in 2019, then lying to FBI agents about it.
A jury earlier this spring deadlocked in their deliberations over the three counts and after 23 hours of behind-closed-doors debate, Judge Andrea Wood declared a mistrial. Back in her courtroom nearly seven weeks later, Assistant U.S. Attorney Prashant Kolluri told Wood “the government would like to retry the case.”
Scheduling a retrial won’t happen until next week, however, and Kolluri noted that given the three-week length of Jones’ original trial, the judge may want to consider blocking off four weeks for the new trial “because there may be a few additional witnesses.”
Meanwhile on Tuesday, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan appeared at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse for the second time this week ahead of his Friday afternoon sentencing.
Madigan, who for decades was one of the most powerful politicians in Illinois, was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts after a four-month corruption trial. In a split verdict, jurors found Madigan guilty on bribery and related charges, while acquitting him on seven others and deadlocking on six more.
Prosecutors accused Madigan of using his positions of power — including as House speaker, head of the state’s Democratic Party and as partner in a real estate law firm — to benefit himself and those close to him. While the jury couldn’t agree on an overarching racketeering charge, the former speaker was convicted on charges related to alleged bribes involving electric utility Commonwealth Edison and former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis.
In dueling filings late last month, the feds asked Judge John Blakey to sentence Madigan to 12½ years in prison, while Madigan’s attorneys asked for five years’ probation, including one on home detention. In a brief hearing Monday, Blakey denied Madigan’s motion for a new trial.
Prosecutors also called for a $1.5 million fine, and in a filing last week, revealed Madigan has a net worth of $40 million — the first time that figure has ever been made public. The former speaker’s lawyers on Tuesday successfully argued for Madigan’s net worth to be stricken from the record, although defense attorney Dan Collins acknowledged it “seems a little hollow considering it has already been widely distributed.”
Madigan’s sentencing hearing technically commenced Tuesday as attorneys argued over sentencing guidelines, and whether to take into account trial testimony from a ComEd executive who estimated legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2011 was worth $400 million in additional shareholder value. Blakey will rule on that Friday when Madigan returns for his full sentencing hearing.