7th Circuit upholds ex-Speaker Madigan’s conviction of bribery, other corruption

Appellate panel rejects arguments weeks after new trial, prison release ordered for ComEd defendants

By HANNAH MEISEL
Capitol News Illinois
hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com 

Article Summary 

• The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld all of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bribery and other corruption convictions, writing in a 29-page ruling Monday that the once-powerful speaker facilitated changes to state law “all because ComEd funneled money to the right people.”

• The ruling comes after a separate appellate panel swiftly ordered the release from prison and a new trial for two people convicted of bribing Madigan in a related trial.

• Madigan is serving out his 7 ½-year sentence in a West Virginia federal prison.

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. 

CHICAGO — A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the 10 guilty verdicts that sent former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to prison, finding no errors in the way the jury was instructed or the “mountain of evidence” the government used to prosecute the influential Democrat during his lengthy bribery trial.

The ruling comes a little over two weeks after the three-judge panel heard arguments from the high-profile legal team Madigan hired last summer to handle his appeal. And while another 7th Circuit panel earlier this month swiftly ordered the release from prison and a new trial for two people convicted of bribing Madigan in a related trial, the judges who heard the former speaker’s appeal were unconvinced of the similar arguments.

Read more: 7th Circuit orders release, new trial for two ‘ComEd Four’ defendants | Madigan’s high-powered appeals team urges 7th Circuit to overturn speaker’s conviction

“Madigan insists that this was run-of-the-mill politics,” Judge Michael Scudder, an appointee of President Donald Trump wrote for the panel. “But a jury of twelve Illinois residents saw the evidence differently. So do we.”

Following a four-month trial, that jury delivered a split verdict in February 2025, ultimately convicting Madigan on 10 of 23 corruption counts, acquitting him on seven and deadlocking on another six. The biggest convictions of the multi-pronged trial, including bribery, were linked to electric utility Commonwealth Edison, which saw a streak of legislative wins in Springfield beginning in 2011.

Prior to then, the utility had been facing dire financial straits and had even gotten close to declaring bankruptcy in the previous decade, according to testimony from former ComEd officials during both Madigan’s trial and the 2023 “ComEd Four” trial.

Read more: Madigan Trial in Review | Michael Madigan: The Rise and Fall

But 2011 was also the year two key Madigan allies began long-term relationships with ComEd. Democratic fundraiser Victor Reyes’ law firm inked what ultimately became a multi-year contract with the utility worth $1.8 million, while recently retired Chicago Ald. Frank Olivo, of Madigan’s native 13th Ward on the city’s South West Side, began receiving $4,000 in monthly checks filtered through a longtime ComEd contract lobbyist, despite doing no work.

During the next eight years, the number of Madigan-allied no-work ComEd subcontractors grew to five, totaling $1.3 million over the time period, while utility officials were pressured to hire, or at least interview, others recommended by the speaker.

And under a few new laws negotiated by ComEd during that time, the utility not only recovered from their financial turmoil, but began to thrive. 

The 7th Circuit Panel’s ruling Monday echoed what federal prosecutors said both during trial and the appeals arguments earlier this month. 

“Michael Madigan spent nearly a decade leveraging his power as one of the highest-ranking public officials in Illinois in exchange for over $3 million of financial benefits for his close political allies,” the 29-page opinion said. “The linkage was clear and far from fleeting. He repeatedly facilitated changes to state law impacting countless energy consumers in northern Illinois, all because ComEd funneled money to the right people.”

Scudder’s opinion was joined by 7th Circuit Judges Nancy Maldonado, an appointee of President Joe Biden, and Frank Easterbrook, the most senior judge on the court, appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

Madigan is serving out his 7 ½-year sentence in a West Virginia federal prison.

Read more: Madigan guilty of bribery as split verdict punctuates ex-speaker’s fall | Ex-Speaker Madigan sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison for bribery, corruption | Ex-Speaker Madigan reports to West Virginia prison to begin 7 ½-year sentence

Madigan felled by FBI cooperators

In her appeals arguments, Madigan lawyer Amy Saharia drilled down on what defense lawyers argued just as often in the course of the trial: That despite hundreds of hours of wiretapped phone calls, hundreds of other pieces of evidence and testimony from dozens of witnesses, prosecutors never produced evidence of a quid pro quo agreement.

Madigan’s legal team tried to poke holes in the government’s theory of a “stream of benefits” prosecutors said the speaker received from ComEd, which negated the need for any agreement of a specific “official action” Madigan would take for a specific benefit. 

But the panel did not buy it, saying there “did not have to be” an “agreement signed at a sit-down meeting.”

“The jury could reasonably infer from this mountain of evidence that Madigan conspired to receive bribes,” the ruling said. “The jury received overwhelming circumstantial evidence that Madigan agreed to help ComEd at a price in 2011 and then stayed the course through early 2019.”

It was in early 2019 when FBI agents approached ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, who immediately agreed to act as a government mole and secretly record conversations with others who orchestrated the contracts for Madigan allies.

Read more: Former ComEd exec-turned-FBI mole in Madigan probe sentenced to probation

The appeals panel pointed to one of those conversations between Marquez and his predecessor John Hooker, a longtime ComEd executive who’d become a contract lobbyist for the utility in his retirement. At the time, Marquez and others involved were worried about how to handle the no-work subcontractor arrangements with ComEd’s new CEO, a former federal prosecutor.

“‘You’re not going to do something for me, I don’t have to do anything for you,’” Hooker said in a February 2019 conversation, speculating on the speaker’s thought process, adding that Madigan would never say it outright.

“These were not the views of strangers,” the 7th Circuit panel wrote. “And the jury was allowed to rely on them (and other like evidence) to draw conclusions about Madigan’s knowledge and intent.”

Madigan’s dealings with another FBI cooperator, then-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis, resulted in the rest of his convictions. Prosecutors alleged Madigan agreed to perform “official action” in exchange for bribes in the form of business for his property tax appeals firm, including an alleged scheme to help get Solis appointed to a state board in exchange for introductions to high-powered real estate developers.

As laid out in trial, Madigan never ended up recommending Solis to newly elected Gov. JB Pritzker, but the 7th Circuit panel on Monday said that didn’t matter, as “the jury heard evidence that Madigan did indeed plan to make the recommendation,” including asking for Solis’ resume and taking notes on Solis’ preferred appointments.

“The government presented evidence that Madigan understood the weight of his recommendation,” the panel wrote. “He confidently told Solis to ‘just leave it in my hands’ and said that Solis would ‘come in as Pritzker’s recommendation.’ We will not disturb these convictions.”

Capitol News Illinois 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.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan leaves Chicago's Dirksen Federal Courthouse after a jury convicted him on 10 of 23 corruption charges on Feb. 12, 2025. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)

Drought causing ongoing concerns, legislative hearings about Illinois water supply

Large data centers are the latest high-end water users in state 

Article Summary

• Months of drought and hot temperatures have impacted water levels in Illinois, leading to concerns about water supply. 

• Those concerns are furthered by the development of data centers, particularly in regions with depleted aquifers. 

• Water supplies vary across the state because different regions rely on different sources, and some water is easier to access than in other regions. 

• Advocates say Illinois needs a clear picture of who’s in charge of overseeing water usage and a focused plan for how to manage it. 

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

By NIKOEL HYTREK
Capitol News Illinois

nhytrek@capitolnewsillinois.com

Drought and hot temperatures have burdened Illinois since last summer, and despite rain improving conditions this spring, the long-term lack of precipitation and high temperatures have impacted water supplies across the state.

Sullivan, a small city southwest of Decatur, declared a water emergency in February that’s expected to last until June. Bloomington recently ended its severe drought proclamation and eased restrictions on water use, but residents are encouraged to continue being judicious. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has delayed opening Heidecke Lake near Morris to boating because of low water levels. 

As local governments confront water challenges, regional droughts have called attention to lax or nonexistent water management policies in Illinois. State lawmakers have caught on, too, especially as they consider how to regulate data centers, a new type of high-end water user that’s been spreading across the state.

Trent Ford, the Illinois state climatologist, said water monitoring and management can be tricky.

“It is definitely a really, really complex thing with water systems in Illinois,” Ford said. “You know, there's always this overarching kind of perception of water abundance, in some cases overabundance. But that's definitely not the case. That's only a perception. It's a mirage of abundance.”

He said rain in 2026 has improved topsoil moisture, but months of drought mean the dryness has impacted deeper layers of soil and water. Critical rivers like the Sangamon, the Mackinaw, the Kankakee, the Iroquois and the Mason, “are still way below where they normally are this time of the year,” he said, though he expects those levels to improve.

Lawmakers in Springfield, meanwhile, are only in the early phases of considering statewide water use plans, mostly discussing the problem in nonvoting subject matter hearings. The onset of data center development, however, has at least brought the conversations to the forefront. 

“There's several agencies that touch on this, and then you've got local control that does things,” Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, said. “You've got the multi-state and multi-country water compact of the Great Lakes. So this is not just something that you can easily introduce and then be done.

“The goal of course is to make sure that our state is safeguarding water so people can have quality of life.”

Water monitoring

Illinoisans rely on lakes, rivers, shallow groundwater and deep groundwater, but measuring water supply can be difficult because it depends on the region of the state and the structure of the ground beneath the surface. 

“Underneath our feet gets really complicated really fast,” said Daniel Abrams, a principal research scientist at the Illinois Water Survey. “Being able to understand that is critical. And we're looking at all kinds of ways to image and improve that.”

The Water Survey is not a government agency, but it works with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to conduct research and monitor water supply by using wells that measure groundwater levels and data mapping tools that visualize Illinois’ hydrology. The Water Survey also advises municipalities and counties about managing water.  

The Water Survey does important research, but the lack of state regulatory authority over water makes its task difficult.

Abrams said water supply modeling is a crucial tool for water management, but it’s not perfect, and he and his team are always looking for more data — particularly about water use.

“One of the data sources that right now we have is annual demand,” he said. “But the more we start thinking about drought, the more we start thinking about those peak demand conditions.” 

Shallow aquifers and surface water sources are more susceptible to drought in the short term, but they rebound quickly after rain, Abrams explained. The opposite is true of deep aquifers like the Mahomet Aquifer in central Illinois or the deep sandstone aquifer system in northern Illinois. That means drought and overuse have different effects depending on the location. 

More frequent reporting from municipalities, irrigators and industries would give the Water Survey a better idea of how seasonal demand works and the condition of aquifer levels, he said. 

“Getting information on a quarterly basis or a monthly basis would make our models more accurate and could help us better understand things like impacts of drought to our water supply,” said Jenna Shelton, director of the Illinois Water Survey.

The Illinois Water Inventory Program collects reports about withdrawals, but it doesn’t have a full picture of that demand because of missing data. 

Since 2010, the Water Use Act of 1983 requires annual water usage reports for “all high-capacity wells or intakes pumping 70 gallons per minute or more (100,000 gallons/day).” Systems of wells and intakes that have a combined pumping rate of 70 gallons per minute or greater also fall under the requirement.

Those high-capacity entities include public water suppliers like municipalities, industrial-commercial facilities, wildlife and recreation operations and agriculture irrigators. 

Multiple sources told Capitol News Illinois that enforcement of reporting requirements across the state is lax.

“We are not a government agency, you know, we cannot really enforce the industries, farmers to report water use every year to us,” said Zhenxing “Jason” Zhang, a principal research scientist at the Water Survey who leads state and regional water supply planning. “We don’t get 100% compliance.” 

Water use reporting is key to understanding what the state will need in the future and how to plan for it, he said. Without that information, resource planning is more difficult.

Management and planning

Nora Beck, an employee at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, or CMAP, said the state needs to update its rules about who’s in charge of water resources so the state can better manage them.

“Everything legislative has been sort of piecemeal over time,” she said. 

CMAP does water supply planning for northeast Illinois, where many supply issues exist because people outside of Chicago and its immediate suburbs rely on hard-to-replenish aquifers where water levels have dropped dramatically.

A 2018 report from the Water Survey, for example, projected Joliet would be unable to meet water demands by 2030 if it continued using the aquifer, so the city is in the process of moving to Lake Michigan as a source.

Illinois has a limit for how much water it’s allowed to draw from the lake because of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact — an agreement between eight states and two Canadian provinces concerning water quality and withdrawals from the Great Lakes. That limit doesn’t exist for groundwater, Beck said. 

Beck said approximately 80% of the people CMAP serves rely on Lake Michigan for water, but the rest rely on groundwater sources. 

“We have a water budget, basically, for the Lake Michigan properties,” she said. “The remaining 20% are mostly on groundwater sources where there's not a clear budget. Any user can pump as much as they want.” 

Ventura, the senator from Joliet, has been involved in water policy since she worked as a naturalist for Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites.  

She said looking at each water region in Illinois separately and streamlining oversight authority would be smart approaches to management. Ventura also suggested the state should mimic the Great Lakes Water Compact to create water use agreements across Illinois.

“Having that regional study is still really important,” Ventura said. “And then looking at things like refilling aquifers or having a long-term plan for access to water, I think is important for everyone in our state.”

There’s no single agency that manages water use in Illinois, either, she said. The IDNR, IEPA and the Illinois Department of Agriculture all manage water to different degrees, and with different focuses.

Of the three agencies, the IDNR shoulders the most responsibility for water supply and works with groups like CMAP, the State Water Plan Task Force and the Water Survey to do regional planning and monitoring. But at a February hearing on groundwater, a representative from the IDNR said the agency faces serious staffing shortages that limit its ability to monitor usage and enforce reporting. 

Since 2024, CMAP has worked with IDNR, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and the Northwest Water Planning Alliance to develop a water sustainability plan for five counties in northeastern Illinois. Beck said a statewide version of that could be helpful.

Beck has also discussed governance strategies with Freshwater Society, a Minnesota initiative to better manage drinking water. Minnesota is currently developing updated rules for groundwater governance.

“I don't think we need to copy directly from another state,” Beck said. “But I think it's important to note that these other states are recognizing that they need to upgrade their groundwater governance, and they're improving it in ways.” 

Other solutions

Ventura has introduced or cosponsored legislation to give the Illinois Department of Agriculture more authority over some withdrawals, and a bill to put more restrictions on private companies buying water from municipalities. But those measures have stalled. 

She also has a data center regulation bill that would require the facilities to file water use reports and monitor discharged water for pollutants, a provision that could become part of a broader data center regulatory bill. 

The POWER Act, a widely debated data center regulatory bill, has several water-related provisions, including requirements for usage, efficiency and water quality monitoring. 

“We are looking at, you know, hundreds, thousands, millions of people who need access to water and what that looks like for the future as we move into things like data centers and other climate concerns,” Ventura said.

Capitol News Illinois 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.

The Chicago skyline as pictured across Lake Michigan from Evanston. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)

Mt. Carmel Man Sentenced to Prison After Probation Violation

Wabash County State’s Attorney Kelli Storckman reports a Mount Carmel man has been sentenced to prison following a probation violation.

Forty-nine-year-old Steven B. Foote has been sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, followed by six months of mandatory supervised release.

Foote had originally been placed on probation in November of 2025 after a domestic battery conviction. However, a subsequent probation revocation hearing found he failed to comply with the terms of that probation.

Authorities say Foote did not report to his probation officer as required and also committed a new offense, public indecency, after an incident in which he exposed himself while in the drive-thru of a local restaurant.

As a result of those violations, the court revoked Foote’s probation and imposed the prison sentence.

Commissioners Table Revisions To Solar Ordinance

At last week’s meeting of the Wabash County Commissioners, board members agreed to table action on an updated county solar ordinance.

Board Chairman Tim Hocking said the county recently received a draft of the revised ordinance from Bellwether, reflecting changes required to comply with a new state law passed in January. Hocking noted commissioners have not yet had sufficient time to fully review the document.

He also said the board would like to seek input from State’s Attorney Kelli Storckman before moving forward, to ensure the ordinance meets all legal requirements under the updated state statute.

Commissioners agreed to table the item to a future meeting, giving members additional time to review the proposed changes. Hocking added the board is aware of the updates and will continue working toward compliance with the new state law.

Wabash County Jury Trial for Hunter Ingram Delayed to July; Defense Cites Witness Issue

In Wabash County Circuit Court, the scheduled May 4th jury trial of Hunter Ingram has been vacated.

Ingram was back in court last week for a final pre-trial hearing. During that hearing, the state indicated it was ready for trial. However, the defense, represented by attorney Roger White, moved to continue the case, citing the possible unavailability of a potential expert witness. Court records show no witness list has been filed and witnesses have not been disclosed by the defense.

The court also noted that Ingram’s continued detention is necessary to avoid what was described as a real, specific, and present threat to the community.

Judge William C. Hudson granted the defense motion to delay over the objection of Wabash County State’s Attorney Kelli Storckman.

A new schedule has now been set, with a pre-trial hearing on May 18th at 9:00, a final pre-trial on June 15th at 9:00, and a jury trial scheduled for July 6th.

Ingram, 27, is charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse stemming from an alleged incident in November 2024 at a residence in the 600 block of West 6th Street in Mount Carmel. He has entered a not guilty plea and remains held in the Wabash County Jail.

Commissioners Hear Report From County Highway Engineer

At Monday afternoon’s meeting of the Wabash County Commissioners, Highway Engineer Dustin Bunting provided an update on several ongoing projects and funding matters.

Bunting said the county is still awaiting additional information from IDOT regarding the bridge bundling pilot program, noting he hopes to have an update by next month’s meeting. He also reported the county’s annual oil and chip letting was held April 10th, with bids coming in at what he described as reasonable levels. Stone prices increased slightly from last year, while oil prices remained steady.

On the maintenance side, Bunting said county crews have nearly completed ditching work and have finished shoulder repairs. Crews are now preparing for road patching, replacing entrance culverts, and gearing up for mowing season ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

Bunting also attended a recent Greater Wabash Regional Planning Commission meeting focused on a statewide Comprehensive Safety Action Plan in partnership with IDOT. The initiative aims to reduce traffic fatalities to zero through a combination of infrastructure improvements, education, and community-based solutions.

In response to questions about state funding, Bunting said changes at the state level are not expected to impact local motor fuel tax revenues. However, he noted there could be some effect on “needy” and consolidated county funding due to shifts in how interest-based funds are allocated.

Judge Admonishes Defendant For Violating Rules At Treatment Facility

A judge is warning a defendant to follow the rules of his court-ordered treatment program or face jail time.

During a status hearing Thursday, Judge Denton Aud sternly admonished 34-year-old Jeremy Birkla for violating rules at the House of Victory Recovery Center in Vincennes. The facility had notified the court of the violations.

Judge Aud told Birkla he must fully comply with the program’s requirements moving forward or he will be remanded back to the Wabash County Jail.

Birkla had previously been granted permission in February to enter long-term treatment for alcoholism under strict conditions, which also resulted in his scheduled jury trial being vacated.

He faces multiple charges, including aggravated domestic battery, unlawful restraint, and interference with the reporting of domestic violence stemming from alleged incidents last November.

A pre-trial hearing in the case is now set for May 28th.

Mt. Carmel City Council Agenda

4pm Monday

IECC Board Summary-April 2026

The Board of Trustees of the Illinois Eastern Community College District No. 529 met Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at Frontier Community College, Fairfield, Illinois.

The Board approved honoring Jerry Cox’s longstanding support of IECC by naming the new Frontier Community College athletic facility the Jerry Cox Athletic Center and its competition floor the Jerry Cox Court, recognizing his significant donations and ongoing commitment to student success.

Minutes of the Board of Trustees regular meeting held on March 24, 2026 and special meeting held on April 7, 2026 were approved.

The Board approved fee updates effective Fall 2026, including the elimination testing fee which will save students approximately $177, and redistributing a $40 lab fee in the Medical Assistant program evenly across two courses without changing total program cost.

A new three-year agreement with Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) to continue providing nursing students with testing, remediation, and NCLEX preparation through a cost-recovery fee assessed to first-year RN students was approved.

The Board waived a second reading and approved revisions to the following policies:

• Assessment Policy 800.4 – minor revisions that include the establishment of an annual report to the Board of Trustees summarizing assessment activities and outcomes.

• Tuition Waivers Policy 500.14 was updated to eliminate tuition waivers for specified counties and Indiana students in designated counties.

A first reading of Trustee Onboarding and Orientation Policy 100.44 was presented. This new policy, developed at the Board’s direction, establishes a structured onboarding and orientation process for new Trustees. The policy will be considered for approval at next month’s meeting.

The Board accepted the 2025 IECC 403(b) Plan report, summarizing plan participation, investment options, and total assets of approximately $6.9 million, in fulfillment of fiduciary oversight responsibilities.

The Board approved a transfer of a donated, uninhabitable property at 402 E. Locust in Robinson to the City of Robinson.

The Board authorized administration to proceed with the full disposition and potential sale of the Garden Valley Apartments property following the end of a temporary arrangement with a local property owner.

Approval of employment was given for Adam McInter as TRIO Upward Bound Academic Counselor at LTC effective June 1, 2026 and Vanessa Stevens as OCC Custodian effective April 27, 2026.

New employment contracts were approved for Chancellor Ryan Gower; LTC President/Vice Chancellor of Institutional Outreach Tona Ambrose; OCC President/Vice Chancellor of Business Operations Chris Simpson; and FCC President/Vice Chancellor of Business & Industry Sharmila Kakac.

A change in status was approved for Cassandra Goldman from Dean of Students to Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, and WVC President-Designate effective July 1, 2026.

The Board approved an externship through the Perkins Grant as a special assignment for Nursing Instructor Brittany Ochs.

Resignation ratification was approved for Cody Gifford as FCC Custodian effective April 24, 2026..

Retirement ratification was approved for Dr. Matthew Fowler as WVC President and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs effective June 30, 2027.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Trustees will be Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 6:15 p.m. at Lincoln Trail College, Robinson, IL.

Cheadle Case Delayed For Two More Months

The felony case against former Wabash County Sheriff’s Deputy Chase Cheadle has been delayed once again.

On Wednesday, Special Prosecutor Brian Towne notified the court he would be unable to attend yesterday’s scheduled pre-trial conference. As a result, the case has been continued for another two months and is now set for June 18th in Wabash County Circuit Court.

The case has seen repeated delays since late 2024. Cheadle, a former K-9 handler with the sheriff’s department, originally faced eight charges, including official misconduct, theft, cruelty to animals, and animal owner duties. Five of those charges were felonies.

In June of last year, two felony counts including theft and one count of official misconduct were dismissed at the request of the special prosecutor.

Cheadle, who is 31 years old, was arrested following an investigation into the July 2024 death of his police K-9, Kiki, who was found unresponsive. He resigned from the sheriff’s department the following month.

The case remains pending as it moves toward its next court date in June.