Several former Commonwealth Edison executives, including a former CEO, were indicted Wednesday in connection to the ongoing investigation into alleged bribes of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D) in return for legislation that increased the company’s earnings and bailed out its money-losing nuclear plants.
Four individuals were charged with bribery conspiracy, bribery and willfully falsifying ComEd books and records in a 50-page indictment returned by a grand jury to the U.S. District Court in Chicago. The individuals indicted include:
- Anne Pramaggiore, 62, the former CEO of ComEd from 2012 to 2018 and later of parent company Exelon Utilities;
- John Hooker, 71, ComEd’s executive vice president of legislative and external affairs from 2009 to 2012 who later worked as an external lobbyist for the utility;
- Michael McClain, 73, a lobbyist and consultant for ComEd and a former member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1972 to 1983; and
- Jay Doherty, 67, the owner of Jay D. Doherty & Associates, which performed consulting services for ComEd from 2011 to 2019.
Investigators allege the four conspired with outside consultants to influence and reward a high-level elected official in Illinois to assist with the passage of legislation favorable to ComEd. The legislation included the 2011 Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, which created a formula ratemaking process for the utility, and the 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act, which authorized subsidies for Exelon’s Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear generators. (See How ComEd Got its Way with Ill. Legislature.)
While Madigan is not named directly in the documents released Wednesday, the scheme allegedly revolved around what the deferred prosecution agreement released in July called “Public Official A,” identified as the “speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and the longest serving member of the House of Representatives.” Madigan is the longest-serving leader of any state or federal legislature in U.S. history, having held the speaker title for all but two years since 1983.
ComEd agreed in July to pay a $200 million fine to settle the bribery allegations. Other lawsuits and indictments have resulted from the initial settlement, including a $450 million racketeering suit filed in August. (See ComEd, Madigan Sued for $450M in Racketeering Suit.)
The grand jury probe leading to the bribery charges brought about the retirement of Pramaggiore in October 2019, less than a week after the company disclosed it had received a subpoena seeking communications between Exelon and state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat whose home and offices were raided by FBI agents in September 2019. Sandoval’s daughter was hired by ComEd during Pramaggiore’s tenure.
Indictment
According to the newest charges, efforts to influence and reward Madigan began around 2011 and continued through 2019. During that time, Madigan controlled what legislation was called for a vote in the Illinois House and “exerted substantial influence” over other lawmakers concerning legislation affecting ComEd.
The charges allege that the defendants conspired with Fidel Marquez, ComEd’s former senior vice president for legislative and external affairs, along with other unnamed conspirators to influence and reward Madigan through the arranging of jobs and contracts for his political allies and workers, some of whom “performed little or no work” for ComEd.
Marquez pled guilty in September to a bribery conspiracy charge.
The defendants allegedly created false contracts, invoices and records within Exelon, ComEd and Exelon Business Services to disguise the true nature of some of the payments to circumvent ComEd’s internal controls. The indictment also alleges that the defendants helped ComEd retain an unnamed outside law firm favored by Madigan as a political favor and to accept students into ComEd’s internship program from Chicago’s Ward 13, Madigan’s political district.
Pramaggiore, Hooker, McClain and Doherty have yet to be arraigned. No charges have been filed against Madigan.
Wednesday’s indictment was announced by John R. Lausch Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie Jr., special agent-in-charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and Tamera Cantu, acting special agent-in-charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.
