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.
