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Archive for the ‘ComEd Four’ Category

Legislation to ban new natural gas hookups in Illinois introduced in Springfield

Posted in ComEd Four, Going green, Politics, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, WTF on May 1, 2024| 1 Comment »

By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square

There’s talk about banning natural gas in Illinois.

A Democratic lawmaker has introduced legislation that would ban natural gas in new buildings.

The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Celina Villanueva, D-Chicago, calls Senate Bill 3935 the Clean and Healthy Buildings Act.

“We must reduce pollution in our buildings and we must begin a managed transition away from dirty, expensive gas to more affordable clean energy solutions,” said Villanueva.

The subject has created a deep divide among Chicagoans after the idea was floated to the city council. Ald. Gilbert Villegas said it is much more expensive to heat a home with electricity.

“During the winter’s frigid temperatures, with tens of thousands of Chicagoans left without electricity, now is the worst possible time to hastily slam through an ordinance without examining true costs,” said Villegas.

Villegas added that a natural gas ban would cause the cost of electricity to spike, hurting low-income Illinoisans the most.

More here.

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Judge pauses SEC case against ex-ComEd boss Anne Pramaggiore

Posted in ComEd Four, Politics, Resident Spotlights, Springfield on April 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore | Twitter

By Brett Rowland | The Center Square

A federal judge has temporarily paused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against former Commonwealth Edison boss Anne Pramaggiore.

A jury convicted Pramaggiore and three others in May 2023 of bribery-related charges as part of a multi-year scheme to corruptly influence longtime former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for favorable legislation in Springfield. Prosecutors said that the utility paid out $1.3 million in jobs, contracts and payments to associates of Madigan over eight years. Pramaggiore has not yet been sentenced in that case and is appealing the criminal conviction.

In the SEC case, Pramaggiore previously asked to put everything on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides a case focused on the federal bribery statute.

Judge Franklin Valderrama said proceeding at this point would put Pramaggiore “between a rock and a hard place.”

“Pramaggiore argues that the SEC will not be prejudiced if the Court grants the stay, pointing out that the SEC waited for years to bring this action,” the judge wrote in the order. “The Court agrees. The SEC’s invocation of its interest in ‘expeditious civil litigation’ rings hollow, as the SEC delayed bringing this action against Pramaggiore for years.”

The judge ordered a stay in the case “until the parallel criminal proceedings, including any appeals or retrials, are complete.”

In December 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to take up the case of James E. Snyder v. U.S. A decision in that case is expected in May, June or July.

The SEC’s complaint against Pramaggiore alleges she participated in, and in some instances directed, the bribery scheme. The complaint alleges that Pramaggiore did not disclose the bribery scheme and instead misled investors when she characterized ComEd’s lobbying activities as legitimate. The complaint also alleges that, as part of the scheme, Pramaggiore lied to Exelon’s auditors and filed false certifications.

Read more here.

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Convicted ex-utility boss wants to pause SEC civil case

Posted in ComEd Four, Crime, Resident Spotlights, Riding Club of Barrington Hills on March 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd senior vice president of regulatory and external affairs, left, and Bob McDonald, CFO of ComEd, speak to reporters during a news conference at the Capitol in Springfield, IL, Tuesday, May 8. 2007. | AP Photo/Seth Perlman

By Brett Rowland | The Center Square

A former Illinois utility boss convicted of public corruption last year has again asked a judge to put the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil case against her on hold.

Former Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore was convicted in May 2023 of bribery-related charges as part of a multi-year scheme to corruptly influence longtime former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for favorable legislation in Springfield. Prosecutors said that the utility paid out $1.3 million in jobs, contracts and payments to associates of Madigan over eight years.

Pramaggiore has not yet been sentenced in that case and is appealing the criminal conviction.a

She’s also fighting a civil case filed last year by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC wants to bar her from serving as an officer or director of a public company, among other civil penalties.

In the SEC case, Pramaggiore wants to put everything on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides a case focused on the federal bribery statute.

The SEC’s complaint against Pramaggiore alleges she participated in, and in some instances directed, the bribery scheme. The complaint alleges that Pramaggiore did not disclose the bribery scheme and instead misled investors when she characterized ComEd’s lobbying activities as legitimate. The complaint also alleges that, as part of the scheme, Pramaggiore lied to Exelon’s auditors and filed false certifications.

Pramaggiore’s defense team previously asked for a stay in the SEC case, citing in part her “strong likelihood of success” in overturning her conviction. Pramaggiore also recently got a reprieve from her sentencing in the federal criminal case while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a case focused on the federal bribery statute she was convicted of violating.

In December 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to take up the case of James E. Snyder v. U.S.

Read more here.

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Illinois’ political corruption keeps people down

Posted in ComEd Four, Crime, Deception, Ethics, Politics, Springfield, Taxes on March 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Public corruption is one of the factors hampering social mobility in Illinois, according to a recent report. | Courtesy Washington Post

By Patrick Andriesen | Illinois Policy Institute

As if Illinois didn’t have enough issues with political corruption, now a report shows it helps keep disadvantaged Illinoisans from moving up.

Illinois’ culture of corruption has been so bad:

  • It averaged one conviction a week for decades.
  • The former and longest serving speaker of the Illinois House, Mike Madigan, is awaiting trial for corruption and some of his associates have already been convicted.
  • Four out of 10 of the past governors went to prison.
  • The state consistently ranks second-most corrupt in the nation as measured by number of federal corruption convictions.
  • Chicago ranking as the most corrupt city in the country.
  • Corruption cost Illinois taxpayers over $550 million a year, previous analysis calculated.

But hindering everyday Illinoisans’ efforts to pursue their version of the American Dream is an insidious cost. That’s according to an Archbridge Institute analysis of 21 countries that confirms Illinois is one of the most corrupt states in America.

It also points out how corruption hurts low-income people who most need to be empowered if they hope to climb the social ladder.

Read more here.

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Judge pauses sentencing in ComEd bribery case ahead of Supreme Court decision

Posted in ComEd Four, Resident Spotlights on February 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Brian Cassella and Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune

By Brett Rowland | The Center Square

A federal judge put the sentencing of four former utility executives and lobbyists on hold Thursday until after the U.S. Supreme Court decides a case involving the federal bribery statute this summer.

In May 2023, a jury convicted former state lawmaker and lobbyist Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former contract lobbyist Jay Doherty. The case involved a conspiracy to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan with $1.3 million in no-show jobs, contracts and payments to associates in exchange for support with legislation that would benefit the utility’s bottom line.

The four defendants were initially set to be sentenced in January, but when the U.S. Supreme Court decided to take up the case of James E. Snyder v. U.S., defense attorneys said it could upend the ComEd convictions.

U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Leinenweber said he wanted to wait to see what the U.S. Supreme Court would do in the Snyder case before sentencing.

“I’m going to postpone sentencing until after the Supreme Court decision,” the judge said in a telephone conference Thursday. “It seems to me that it makes more sense to find out precisely what the Seventh Circuit case law would be before we proceed to sentencing.”

Once the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Snyder case, the judge wants the parties to meet again and decide how to proceed.

More here.

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Prosecutors oppose sentencing delay in ComEd bribery case

Posted in ComEd Four, Crime, Politics, Springfield on January 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

CE4

By Brett Rowland | The Center Square

Federal prosecutors said Friday that they see no reason to pause sentencing hearings for four former Commonwealth Edison executives and lobbyists convicted of a multi-year scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

In May 2023, a jury convicted former state lawmaker and lobbyist Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former contract lobbyist Jay Doherty in a conspiracy to bribe Madigan with no-show jobs, contracts and payments to associates in exchange for support with legislation that would benefit the utility’s bottom line.

Last month, the defense attorneys asked for a blanket pause on the case because the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up a case that could affect the outcome. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of James E. Snyder v. U.S., which defense attorneys argue could upend the ComEd convictions.

Prosecutors fired back Friday. They argued that even if the Supreme Court decision, expected by the end of June, were to affect the federal bribery statute, the four defendants were convicted of other crimes not affected by the bribery law.

“Even if the Supreme Court concludes that Justice Scalia, the pre-eminent textualist of his generation, the Seventh Circuit, and four other circuit courts of appeal had it all wrong, the defendants are still wrong to assume that a decision in favor of Snyder in the Supreme Court would affect their convictions,” prosecutors wrote. “As an initial matter, each and every defendant was convicted on false books and records charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”

Read more here.

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Judge denies acquittal, new trial for convicted former ComEd leaders

Posted in ComEd Four, Deception, Politics, Resident Spotlights on January 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

CE4

Defendants in the ComEd 4 corruption trial listen as the federal jury reads its verdict. (Courtroom sketch courtesy of L.D.Chukman)

By Brett Howland | The Center Square

A federal judge on Thursday said the four former Commonwealth Edison leaders convicted last year of corruption don’t deserve an acquittal or a new trial.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber denied motions by former state lawmaker and lobbyist Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former contract lobbyist Jay Doherty. A jury convicted the four of all counts against them in May 2023. After the verdict, the defendants had asked for an acquittal or a new trial. Leinenweber wrote in a 94-page decision that they weren’t entitled to either.

“Ultimately, the Court cannot acquit on any count,” he wrote.

McClain, Pramaggiore, Hooker and Doherty have yet to be sentenced and it is not yet clear when they will be sentenced. All four have asked the judge to put their sentencing hearings on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court considers another case focused on the federal bribery statute.

At trial, prosecutors presented secretly recorded videos, wiretapped phone calls and hundreds of emails to show how the four former ComEd executives and lobbyists were “the grandmasters of corruption.”

Prosecutors said that the utility paid out $1.3 million in jobs, contracts and payments to associates of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan over eight years in exchange for favorable treatment on legislation in Springfield that would affect the finances of the state’s largest utility.

Defense attorneys said the four never bribed anyone and argued the conduct was legal lobbying, including efforts to build goodwill with elected officials.

Read more here.

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Ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s racketeering trial postponed 6 months pending Supreme Court decision in bribery case; ‘Better to do it right than to do it twice,’ judge says

Posted in ComEd Four, Crime, Deception, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield on January 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, center, and his lawyer Thomas Breen, left, leave the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Jan. 3, 2024, after a hearing before U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey over whether Madigan’s landmark trial should be postponed pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in another Chicago-area bribery case. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

By Jason Meisner and Ray Long | Chicago Tribune

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s landmark racketeering trial was postponed Wednesday pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in a Chicago-area bribery case that could fundamentally alter what prosecutors are required to prove.

The new date for the trial was set for Oct. 8. It’s expected to last up to three months.

“I don’t do this lightly,” U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey said. “But it’s better to do it right than to do it twice.”

Blakey’s ruling came as Madigan, the former leader of the state Democratic Party who holds the nationwide record 36 years as speaker, appeared in court for the first time since his indictment nearly two years ago.

Blakey had allowed both Madigan and his co-defendant, longtime confidant Michael McClain, to appear via video conference, which McClain accepted. Madigan, however, appeared in person instead, walking into the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse with his legal team shortly after 1:30 p.m., noticeably grayer around the temples than when he controlled the House.

More here.

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The most read posts to The Observer in 2023

Posted in 220, Barrington Area Library, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Clown Car, ComEd Four, Dumb and Dumber, Elections, Illinois State Board of Elections, Look For The Union Label, Mad Cows, News Media, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, School Districts, South Barrington, Topics Of Interest, VBHPD, What the Ficke (Bradford)?, WTF on December 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »

2023 Snaps

(Castle home image courtesy Coldwell Banker Real Estate)

2023 was indeed an interesting year. Here are the most read posts to The Barrington Hills Observer this year:

Have a Happy New Year!

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Judge grants ComEd 4 motion to postpone sentencing

Posted in Barrington Hills Polo Club, ComEd Four, News Media, Politics, Resident Surveys, Springfield on December 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

ComEd4

By Brett Rowland | The Center Square

A judge on Monday temporarily postponed sentencing dates for four former executives and lobbyists at the state’s largest utility company convicted of conspiring to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The ComEd 4 had asked the judge to stay the case while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews a case that focuses on the federal bribery statute that the four were convicted under in May.

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah granted part of the defense team’s motion and denied another part at a motion hearing on Monday in Chicago. The judge struck the pending January sentencing dates for the four defendants and got rid of the deadlines for filing sentencing memos.

The pause won’t last forever.

“The parties are on notice to be prepared to file memoranda expeditiously once new dates are set,” according to the judge’s order. “The schedule for the preparation and filing of the remaining Presentence Investigation Reports remains as set.”

Last week, the defense attorneys asked for a blanket pause on the case because the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up a case that could affect the outcome. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of James E. Snyder v. U.S., which defense attorneys said could upend the ComEd convictions.

The Supreme Court is expected to decide the Synder case by June 2024.

More here.

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