ComEd bribery sentencings postponed while Supreme Court reviews Indiana corruption case

A federal judge agreed to postpone the sentencings of four people convicted last year for a nearly decade-long conspiracy to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on an Indiana corruption case.

The decision Thursday from U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in the ComEd bribery case is in line with the call made earlier this year by U.S. District Judge John Blakey, who agreed to delay Madigan’s trial until October for the same reason.

The Supreme Court is reviewing the corruption conviction of James Snyder, a former mayor of Portage, Ind. His case revolves around a bribery statute dealing with programs receiving federal funds. Madigan and the ComEd defendants were also charged under that statute.

The question before the Supreme Court is whether that statute criminalizes so-called gratuities without any quid pro quo agreement. Gratuities are described in the case as “payments in recognition of actions” an official “has already taken or committed to take.”

In his ruling Thursday, Leinenweber quoted from the prosecutors’ opening statement in the trial of Madigan confidant Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and onetime City Club President Jay Doherty.

The feds told jurors the four “sought to reward Madigan for past beneficial conduct to Commonwealth Edison,” Leinenweber noted. The judge said prosecutors also assured the jury they were pursuing a “gratuity theory” and that the trial wasn’t going to be a “straight-up bribery case.”

The judge said that means a Supreme Court decision in favor of Snyder “will impact” the ComEd case.

Sentencing hearings in the case have been on hold for months, dating back to when an emergency judge put them off during a hearing in December. Though that judge didn’t explain why they had to be taken off the calendar, Leinenweber later disclosed that he’d had health issues.

Meanwhile, defense attorneys insisted the sentencings should also be put on hold until after the Supreme Court rules in the Snyder case.

Prosecutors accused defense attorneys for the four ComEd defendants of “claiming victory prematurely” because of that Supreme Court review. But Pramaggiore attorney Scott Lassar predicted that “the convictions are not going to stand.”

Illinois and Indiana are both supervised by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the Snyder case on April 15 and rule by summer.