Jim Dey: Madigan can't feel too good about mistrial for former AT&T exec
Sep. 24—Last week's hung-jury mistrial in the case of a former Illinois AT&T executive charged with bribing ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan came as both good and bad news to the onetime political powerhouse.
The jury's failure to convict now-retired AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza surely put a smile on Madigan's face. At the same time, the hung jury's 11-1 vote to convict must have made the hair on Madigan's neck stand up.
Jurors deliberated for about 15 hours over three days before throwing in the towel in what was billed as a sneak peek at Madigan's upcoming October corruption trial.
La Schiazza was charged with bribery for giving a no-show job to a Madigan associate to ensure the legendary Chicago politician would help AT&T pass legislation excusing it from providing land-line service in Illinois.
The legislation, according to news accounts, saved the company many millions of dollars annually that it planned to reallocate toward more sophisticated technology.
Prosecution and defense lawyers didn't disagree on the facts. But they vehemently disagreed about La Schiazza's intent.
The government said AT&T perceived the $2,500-a-month payment to a Madigan associate for a no-show job as required to win Madigan's support for the landline bill.
The defense argued the no-show job AT&T reluctantly provided to former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo represented a legal effort to win Madigan's goodwill, not buy his vote.
Jurors emphatically rejected that same goodwill defense argument in the 2023 trial of four ComEd executives and lobbyists charged with conspiring to bribe Madigan. They have not been sentenced.
Now — by an 11-1 vote, barely short of the required unanimity — another jury has come to the same lopsided conclusion that favors the government.
Clearly, the claim that the reciprocal benefits favor-seekers and politicians enjoy is legal business as usual does not sit well with average citizens.
AT&T, as a corporate entity, pleaded guilty to bribery and paid a $23 million fine, an easy move on its part. La Schiazza, who faces a possible retrial, had no such option because his liberty is in jeopardy.
Commonwealth Edison also pleaded guilty and was, among other things, fined $200 million.
But the two cases and the evidence in them are dramatically different.
In the ComEd case, prosecutors presented volumes of tape-recordings and plenty of other hard evidence showing the utility spent more than $1 million over a period of years lavishing favors on Madigan's political organization. It benefited from legislative approval of a rate hike.
In the AT&T case, they presented a narrow charge related to the Acevedo job and the legislation the company had tried for years to pass.
In the context of what AT&T saved in expenses, the $2,500 monthly payment to Acevedo to appease Madigan was small potatoes. But testimony, much of it in the form of internal emails, showed AT&T wanted nothing to do with Acevedo but acquiesced when Michael McClain, Madigan's right-hand man, repeatedly asked for the favor.
McClain, already convicted in the 2023 ComEd trial, is a co-defendant with Madigan in the upcoming trial.
Company emails showed AT&T executives feared the Acevedo precedent would lead to more requests for financial favors from Madigan and his team.
Indeed, shortly after AT&T hired Acevedo, Madigan's son, Andrew Madigan, asked the company to sponsor a fundraising event for a nonprofit the younger Madigan supported.
"This will be endless," La Schiazza complained in an email.
Still, AT&T contributed $2,500 to the younger Madigan's fundraising effort and expected more of the same sorts of requests.
"We're on the 'Friends & Family Plan' now," La Schiazza joked, alluding to the company's advertising slogan.
