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The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago announced that Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), the largest electric utility in Illinois, has agreed to pay $200 million in fines to end a bribery investigation. ComEd, a subsidiary of Exelon, has agreed to pay, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

This should resolve a years-long criminal investigation into widespread bribery and corrupt lobbying practices in Illinois. On July 17, 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois charged ComEd with one count of bribery.

The bribery charge and deferred prosecution agreement were announced on July 17, 2020, by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and his team. A court date for the DPA approval hearing has not yet been scheduled.

In the agreement, ComEd admitted it gave jobs, vendor subcontracts, and paid money associated with those jobs and subcontracts, for various associates of an unnamed public official.

The official has been publicly identified as Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan is the longest-serving leader of any state or federal legislature. He is arguably the state’s most powerful politician.

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois announced that the government will defer prosecution on the charge for three years and then seek to dismiss it if ComEd lives up to certain terms of the agreement. 

ComEd will be required to cooperate with ongoing investigations of individuals or other entities related to the conduct described in the bribery charge. A related SEC investigation and civil lawsuits remain pending.

The statement of facts involves the state of Illinois legislation

ComEd’s admissions to date are contained in a Statement of Facts attached to the DPA.

ComEd admitted that its efforts to influence and reward the high-level elected official (Madigan) started around 2011 and continued through 2019.

During that time, the Illinois General Assembly was considering and passed legislation that had a large impact on ComEd’s profitability and operations. This includes legislation that would influence the regulatory process that determines the electricity rates ComEd could charge its customers.

Madigan controlled what legislation was called for a vote in the Illinois House of Representatives and also exerted considerable influence over his fellow lawmakers concerning bills that impacted ComEd. The company admitted that it arranged for jobs and vendor subcontracts for the “Public Official A’s” political friends and workers even when those people performed little or no work that they were supposedly hired by ComEd to perform.