Feds to retry Sen. Emil Jones after mistrial on bribery, lying to FBI
charges
[June 11, 2025]
By Hannah Meisel
CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced they intend to retry
state Sen. Emil Jones III after his April trial on charges of bribery
and lying to the FBI ended in a hung jury.
Jones, a Chicago Democrat and son of former Illinois Senate President
Emil Jones Jr., stands accused of agreeing to take bribes from red-light
camera entrepreneur-turned-government cooperator Omar Maani in 2019,
then lying to FBI agents about it.
A jury earlier this spring deadlocked in their deliberations over the
three counts and after 23 hours of behind-closed-doors debate, Judge
Andrea Wood declared a mistrial. Back in her courtroom nearly seven
weeks later, Assistant U.S. Attorney Prashant Kolluri told Wood “the
government would like to retry the case.”
Scheduling a retrial won’t happen until next week, however, and Kolluri
noted that given the three-week length of Jones’ original trial, the
judge may want to consider blocking off four weeks for the new trial
“because there may be a few additional witnesses.”
The government called five witnesses in April, including Maani, who
testified that he’d met with Jones for three separate dinners in the
summer of 2019 at the FBI’s direction. Maani offered a campaign
contribution to the senator in the same conversation he asked about
Jones’ willingness to drop or modify legislation that called for a
statewide study of red-light camera systems in Illinois. Maani testified
he worried a study could be a “prelude to a ban” on his industry.
But Jones was more interested in Maani hiring his former intern,
Christopher Katz.
“If you can raise me five grand, that’d be good,” Jones said on a secret
video recording of his dinner with Maani on July 17, 2019, after Maani
pushed him to come up with a number for the proposed campaign donation.
“But most importantly, I have an intern working in my office and I’m
trying to find him another job, another part-time job while he’s in
school. … Do you all have any positions available?”
Prosecutors also called Katz to the witness stand, along with a pair of
federal agents who questioned Jones about Maani in September 2019. But
the jury could neither agree on whether Jones lied to the agents, nor
whether Jones agreed to bribes in the form of a job for Katz or the
campaign contribution — money that Maani never actually paid the
senator.
During trial, Jones also made the risky decision to testify in his own
defense. Jones told the jury that he was trying to avoid taking money
from Maani, saying he gave off the vibe of a “used car salesman” and
that he was aware Maani was trying to bribe him. But he also
contradicted testimony from Katz, who downplayed his relationship with
the senator, while Jones said they were close.
After Jones’ trial ended, the five-term senator returned to Springfield
for the final weeks of the General Assembly’s spring legislative
session; prior to his time in court, Jones hadn’t been to the Capitol
since January’s lame duck session and inauguration activities.
Jones was originally indicted in September 2022 but went on to win
another term in the Illinois Senate six weeks later, running unopposed.
But he’s up for another four-year term in next year’s election cycle and
will have to decide this summer whether he’ll circulate petitions in the
fall to get on the March 2026 primary ballot while still under
indictment or step away from politics.
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State Sen. Emil Jones III, D-Chicago, listens to debate on the floor
of the Illinois Senate on Friday, May 30, 2025. Jones returned to
Springfield for the final weeks of legislative session after his
federal corruption trial in April ended in a hung jury. (Capitol
News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
Jones did not attend Tuesday’s hearing, but his attorneys indicated he’d
need to be present for next week’s appearance to discuss a retrial
schedule.
Madigan sentencing
Meanwhile on Tuesday, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan
appeared at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse for the second time this week
ahead of his Friday afternoon sentencing.
Madigan, who for decades was one of the most powerful politicians in
Illinois, was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts after a
four-month corruption trial. In a split verdict, jurors found Madigan
guilty on bribery and related charges, while acquitting him on seven
others and deadlocking on six more.
Prosecutors accused Madigan of using his positions of power — including
as House speaker, head of the state’s Democratic Party and as partner in
a real estate law firm — to benefit himself and those close to him.
While the jury couldn’t agree on an overarching racketeering charge, the
former speaker was convicted on charges related to alleged bribes
involving electric utility Commonwealth Edison and former Chicago Ald.
Danny Solis, who unbeknownst to Madigan, was acting as an FBI
cooperator.
In dueling filings late last month, the feds asked Judge John Blakey to
sentence Madigan to 12 ½ years in prison, while Madigan’s attorneys
asked for five years’ probation, including one on home detention. In a
brief hearing Monday, Blakey denied Madigan’s motion for a new trial.
Prosecutors also called for a $1.5 million fine, and in a filing last
week, revealed Madigan has a net worth of $40 million — the first time
that figure has ever been made public. The former speaker’s lawyers on
Tuesday successfully argued for Madigan’s net worth to be stricken from
the record, although defense attorney Dan Collins acknowledged it “seems
a little hollow considering it has already been widely distributed.”
Madigan’s sentencing hearing technically commenced Tuesday as attorneys
argued over sentencing guidelines, and whether to take into account
trial testimony from a ComEd executive who estimated legislation passed
by the General Assembly in 2011 was worth $400 million in additional
shareholder value. Blakey will rule on that Friday when Madigan returns
for his full sentencing hearing.
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a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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