Overview

• The Seventh Circuit rejected Michael Madigan’s request to remain free pending appeal in a terse, one-page ruling without explanation.
• Madigan, 83, must begin serving a 7½-year sentence on Oct. 13 and faces a $2.5 million fine and three years of supervised release, with at least 85% of the prison term required.
• His convictions stem from schemes involving ComEd payments to his allies for no-show work and an effort to place former Ald. Danny Solis on a state board to benefit Madigan’s law firm.
• A jury in February found him guilty on 10 of 23 counts, acquitted him on several others, and deadlocked on additional charges, including the racketeering count.
• U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey previously denied release pending appeal and criticized Madigan’s testimony, while the defense now presses appellate arguments on issues such as the meaning of “corruptly” and the “stream-of-benefits” theory, with his prison placement still undecided.