By JIM TALAMONTI
Illinois Radio Network
CHICAGO, Ill. (IRN) — The bribery and racketeering trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is scheduled to resume Monday in Chicago, with former Chicago Alderman Daniel Solis slated to return to the witness stand.
Solis, who represented the city’s 25th Ward from 1996 to 2019, began testifying when the court was last in session Thursday afternoon.
Solis said he secretly cooperated with government investigators for about 2 1/2 years and entered a deferred prosecution agreement, which stipulated that he would not be prosecuted while cooperating.
Solis admitted that he still faced a pending bribery charge for soliciting campaign contributions from a developer who had a pending zoning application in his community.
Solis is expected to testify about a land development deal in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood, located in Solis’ ward, which was allegedly set up to drive business to Madigan’s law firm.
Madigan’s defense attorney Dan Collins referred to the deal as, “a ruse,” when he cross-examined FBI Special Agent Ryan McDonald on Thursday.
Patrick Collins served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago for 12 years and Deputy Chief of the Public Corruption Section for 4 years.
“I think the one the defense is girding for is former Alderman Solis. On the one hand, as I understand it, Solis is going to be introducing some of the key Madigan tapes, where you do hear Madigan’s voice,” Collins said.
Collins was one of the lead prosecutors in the corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who was convicted of racketeering and fraud in 2006.
“But Solis has a mountain of problems of his own, and I think that’s going to be the person that the defense is going to have on cross-examination an awful long time,” Collins explained.
Judge John Robert Blakey is presiding in the case, United States of America v. Madigan et al, at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in downtown Chicago.
Blakey indicated last week that the court would be in session from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday but would dismiss before lunch Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.