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- Timothy Mapes, former chief of staff to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail for lying under oath to a grand jury.
- Mapes is required to start serving his sentence in mid-June.
- Four others had been beforehand convicted of bribery conspiracy involving the state’s largest electrical utility, with ties to Madigan’s associates.
A federal choose in Chicago sentenced a former chief of staff to longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to two and a half years in jail Monday for lying under oath to a grand jury to defend his once-powerful boss.
U.S. District Judge John F. Kness imposed the sentence on Timothy Mapes, 69, of Springfield. A jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago final yr convicted Mapes of making false declarations earlier than a grand jury and tried obstruction of justice.
“I don’t understand why. You were immunized by the grand jury, and all you had to do was go in and tell the truth,” Judge John Kness mentioned. “You knew the testimony was false. … I can’t ignore that finding.”
PROSECUTION RESTS CASE IN CORRUPTION TRIAL FOR EX-ILLINOIS HOUSE SPEAKER’S ASSOCIATES
Mapes is to report to jail in mid-June to start his sentence, the choose mentioned.
Timothy Mapes, former chief of staff to longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, departs a standing listening to in his federal perjury case on the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 13, 2022. A federal choose in Chicago has sentenced Mapes to two and a half years in jail for lying under oath to a grand jury. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service through Getty Images)
Kness mentioned in court docket he felt a way of loyalty had doubtlessly motivated Mapes’ deception, however mentioned that such a sense was a mistake.
“Your loyalty was misguided, and now you will pay the price for that,” he mentioned.
Prosecutors instructed jurors that Mapes lied repeatedly when he testified in 2021 to a grand jury investigating Madigan and others. They mentioned he particularly lied when he mentioned he couldn’t recall any related particulars about Madigan’s ties to Michael McClain, who was a Madigan confidant.
One witness, a legislator, instructed jurors that Madigan, Mapes and McClain shaped a mighty triumvirate — with Madigan at its head — within the Illinois House for years, controlling which payments received by means of the legislative physique.
Government proof included wiretapped cellphone recordings and audio of Mapes testifying earlier than the grand jury.
“He did everything he could to obstruct the process … to minimize his participation, to act as if he was clueless,” prosecutor Julia Schwartz mentioned of Mapes throughout closing arguments.
During his closings, protection lawyer Andrew Porter mentioned Mapes would have had no motivation to lie to defend his previous boss after Madigan had compelled him to resign in 2018 amid allegations of harassment, which Mapes denied.
“Why would he fall on his sword for a guy who kicked him to the curb three years before?” Porter requested.
ILLINOIS DEMOCRAT MICHAEL MADIGAN INDICTED ON FEDERAL RACKETEERING, BRIBERY CHARGES
Federal jurors final May convicted 4 defendants of bribery conspiracy involving the state’s largest electrical utility. Prosecutors mentioned McClain, two former ComEd executives and a former utility guide organized contracts, jobs and cash for Madigan’s associates to guarantee proposed payments boosting ComEd income grew to become legislation.
A yr earlier than Madigan was indicted and amid hypothesis that he was a federal goal, Madigan resigned from the Legislature because the longest-serving state House speaker in fashionable U.S. historical past.
The indictment accused Madigan of reaping the advantages of personal authorized work that was illegally steered to his legislation agency, amongst different issues. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Madigan misplaced the speakership and resigned his House seat in 2021, a yr earlier than being indicted together with McClain in a separate racketeering case alleging Madigan offered his workplace for private acquire. That trial is about to start in October.
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