Judge grants Madigan "up front" extension in racketeering case
On Tuesday, a U.S. District Court Judge granted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his defense team an "up front" extension until next year so they can further review the evidence in the case turned over by prosecutors.
CHICAGO - On Tuesday, a U.S. District Court Judge granted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his defense team an "up front" extension until next year so they can further review the evidence in the case turned over by prosecutors.
First reported by the Chicago Tribune's Ray Long and Jason Meisner, on Tuesday U.S. District Court Judge Robert Blakey set a Feb. 1 deadline for the filing of pretrial motions in the federal case against Michael Madigan and Michael McClain.[1] Particularly noteworthy was that the Judge did so by saying he was granting the delay “up front” so defense attorneys "wouldn’t have to come back and ask for more time," as reported by Meisner and Long.
Madigan, the former speaker of the Illinois House and for decades one of the nation’s most powerful state legislators, along with a longtime friend and ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain, were federally charged with racketeering and bribery in the spring of 2022.[2] The 22-count indictment charged the men with racketeering conspiracy, using interstate facilities in aid of bribery, wire fraud, and attempted extortion.
Madigan and McClain have both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The State's Attorney's office was reportedly ready to proceed with the case sometime this year and that discovery was "substantially complete." The State further highlighted that Madigan was being represented by six criminal defense attorneys and that there should be no issues.
The defense argued that they're busy preparing for separate charges involving Michael McClain, and that they'd be at "significant disadvantage" if forced to go through with discovery in the Madigan case due to the large amount of evidentiary materials provided by the U.S. Attorney's office.
We encourage you to read through the reporting from Meisner and Long at the Chicago Tribune,[3] as they also highlight substantial pension increases as Madigan awaits trial: Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension payments balloon as judge grants defense until next year to file motions in racketeering case
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Notes & References
Meisner, Jason, and Ray Long. “Judge Grants Defense until next Year to File Motions in Racketeering Case against Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan.” Chicago Tribune, August 2, 2022. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-michael-madigan-michael-mcclain-racketeering-case-status-hearing-20220802-3t3mhvc44fcqldkkrb4qrd3zjy-story.html. ↩︎
Press, Associated. “Illinois' Ex-House Speaker, Mike Madigan, Charged with Racketeering and Bribery.” Chicago Journal. Chicago Journal, March 4, 2022. https://www.chicagojournal.com/illinois-ex-house-speaker-mike-madigan-charged-with-racketeering-and-bribery/. ↩︎
Long, Ray, and Jason Meisner. “Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan's Pension Payments Balloon as Judge Grants Defense until next Year to File Motions in Racketeering Case.” Chicago Tribune, August 3, 2022. https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-michael-madigan-pension-hike-case-status-20220803-krmiofwnxfcxbmvg56ymlfenbq-story.html. ↩︎
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