Federal prosecutors are telling a jury that former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan repeatedly exploited his public role for private benefit.

The former Illinois House Speaker once lauded as the longest-serving legislative leader in American history will enter a federal courtroom this week on charges he used his vast influence to run a “criminal enterprise” to amass even more wealth and power.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, for decades one of the nation’s most powerful state legislators, has been charged with a nearly $3 million racketeering and bribery scheme.

(AP Photo/Seth Perlman File)SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who set much of Illinois' political agenda as House speaker for four decades before his ouster last month, resigned his seat in the Legislature on Thursday. But after being implicated, he lost his bid for a 19th term as speaker to Hillside Democrat Emanuel “Chris” Welch. In a statement Thursday, Madigan, 78, did not explicitly state the reason for his departure after holding the post for 50 years. Ad“It’s no secret that I have been the target of vicious attacks by people who sought to diminish my many achievements lifting up the working people of Illinois," Madigan said. New ideas and sincere collaboration between the parties is the only pathway forward.”AdWelch, the new Illinois House speaker, touted Madigan’s “strong, sustained Democratic leadership” in approving same-sex marriage, abolishing the death penalty and establishing a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

CHICAGO Federal prosecutors recently answered the question about whether Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the nations longest serving statehouse speaker, is a subject of a criminal investigation into influence peddling to benefit an energy utility. Q: Multiple clues over the past 12 months raised the possibility that he was a federal investigative target, including charges against political allies. A: In Illinois, a state thats become a synonymous with pay-to-play corruption, theres no shortages of cases to look to for indications about charges Madigan could face. Taxes charges are common in bribery cases because those accepting bribes never declare money under the table as income. Federal prosecutors can and often do slap on a wire fraud charges if someone ever uses a phone in carrying out a crime.

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder leaves the federal courthouse after an initial hearing following charges against him and four others alleging a $60 million bribery scheme Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)COLUMBUS, Ohio A nuclear plant bailout law should be repealed immediately, Democratic members of the Ohio House announced Wednesday as a bribery scandal involving one of the states most powerful lawmakers unfolded over the laws passage. The announcement came a day after Larry Householder, the Republican speaker of the Ohio House, and four associates were arrested in a $60 million federal bribery case connected to the taxpayer-funded bailout. Previous attempts to bail out the nuclear plants had stalled in the Legislature before Householder became speaker. Repealing the law quickly won't be easy, and is complicated by support the law received in the House, both from Householder-backed Republicans and Democrats persuaded to support the measure.

(Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register via AP, Pool, File)CHICAGO Electric utility ComEd has agreed to pay $200 million to resolve a federal criminal investigation into a long-running bribery scheme that implicates Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, federal prosecutors announced Friday. A deferred prosecution agreement for ComEd filed in federal court states that Public Official A is the Illinois House Speaker, but Madigan the the longest-serving state House speaker in modern American history is not mentioned by name. The U.S. Attorney's office scheduled a Friday afternoon news conference to announce developments in a public corruption investigation." The U.S. Attorneys Office said it filed a one-count criminal information on Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charging ComEd with bribery. A deferred prosecution agreement that's subject to approval by the U.S. District Court requires ComEd to pay a $200 million fine.