After conviction, ex-Madigan chief of staff asks for acquittal or new trial

[November 28, 2023]  By Brett Rowland | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Michael Madigan's former chief of staff is asking a judge for an acquittal or new trial after a jury convicted him in August of lying to a grand jury to protect his former boss.

Tim Mapes, 68, served for years under former Democratic Illinois House Speaker Madigan as the clerk of the Illinois House and as Madigan's chief of staff. In August, a federal jury found Mapes guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

In a motion before Judge John Kness, Mapes asked for an acquittal, or in the alternative, a new trial.

"Mr. Mapes was found guilty of both counts of the Indictment for, in the jury's view, testifying falsely about entirely legal conduct that was not material to the grand jury’s investigation," attorney Andrew Porter wrote in the motion. "But neither through its arguments nor through its witnesses did the government identify any evidence that Mr. Mapes had knowledge of or participation in any bribery scheme involving Michael Madigan, Michael McClain, or ComEd."

Porter said the guilty verdict doesn't hold up.

"The government never offered evidence to establish the materiality of Mr. Mapes' alleged lies, but instead invited the jury to speculate that Mr. Mapes' alleged lies were somehow relevant to the question of whether McClain and Madigan were conspiring together to commit crimes."

Porter argued that the speculation wasn't enough.

"Speculation cannot replace evidence ... and the government offered no evidence that Mr. Mapes knew anything about criminality between McClain and Madigan," Porter wrote. "Just because Mr. Mapes expertly kept the 'trains running on time' in the Illinois legislature for many years does not even tend to prove that he knew of or was read into criminal schemes involving McClain or Madigan. The government never offered any evidence to connect the legal 'tasks' and 'assignments' that McClain discussed with Mr. Mapes to the bribery allegations concerning Madigan and McClain that were investigated by the grand jury. In the absence of evidence to make those connections, the government invited the jury to speculate. The guilty verdicts, then, must not stand."

Porter also argued that Kness erred when he allowed evidence of Mapes' immunity deal at trial.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, left, and his former Chief of Staff Tim Mapes, right. - BlueRoomStream

In August, the judge denied a motion filed by Mapes' attorney to keep mention of the immunity deal out of the trial. Mapes had argued that portions of the indictment that referred to the immunity agreement were irrelevant and prejudicial.

In May 2021, federal prosecutors charged Mapes with lying to a grand jury in a federal probe connected to the longtime former speaker. According to the indictment, Mapes acted as a courier exchanging messages between Madigan and former state Rep. Michael McClain, who worked as a lobbyist for Commonwealth Edison after retiring from the House.

The indictment alleged that Mapes lied to the grand jury when asked about Madigan's relationship with McClain.

McClain could face life in prison after being convicted in a separate trial earlier this year. In May, a jury convicted former state lawmaker and lobbyist McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former contract lobbyist Jay Doherty of a multi-year scheme to bribe Madigan with no-show jobs, contracts and payments to associates in exchange for support with legislation that would benefit the utility's finances.

ComEd, the state's largest utility, agreed to pay $200 million in July 2020 to resolve a criminal investigation into the years-long bribery scheme. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, ComEd admitted it arranged jobs, vendor subcontracts and payments in a bid to influence Madigan.

Madigan served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021. He served as speaker of the Illinois House from 1983 to 1995 and again from 1997 to 2021. He wielded additional power as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Madigan, who resigned after losing the House speakership in January 2021, has been charged with 23 counts of racketeering, bribery and official misconduct in a separate case that could go to trial in April 2024. He has pleaded "not guilty."