Overview

• U.S. District Judge John Blakey rejected Madigan’s motion to remain free pending appeal of his 7½-year sentence, finding he failed to present a substantial legal issue likely to overturn his conviction.
• Madigan’s legal team plans to seek bond pending appeal from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
• The appeal will hinge on complex questions in federal bribery law, most notably the unresolved definition of “corruptly” debated by the U.S. Supreme Court in April 2024.
• Defense attorneys warn that bond pending appeal requests rarely succeed under the stringent federal standard and say Madigan faces long odds in the 7th Circuit.
• Madigan was convicted in February for a decade-long bribery and wire fraud scheme involving $1.3 million in ComEd payments and a deal to place Ald. Danny Solis on a state board.