Defense attorney grills Madigan witness over false answer on gun purchase form

After a star witness in the case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan gave a false answer while trying to buy a gun earlier this year, a judge warned him that he’d just handed “a gift” to defense attorneys in the case.

One of those defense attorneys accepted that gift wholeheartedly Wednesday, grilling Fidel Marquez over whether he’d forgotten last winter that he’d “pled guilty to a felony” and was “facing five years?”

“Did the word ‘felony’ resonate with you on March 8, 2024?” attorney Patrick Cotter demanded. “Did you remember that part of the court proceeding?”

The showdown came at the end of Cotter’s lengthy cross-examination of Marquez, the former ComEd executive who wore a wire for the FBI. Marquez has spent five days on the witness stand in the trial of Madigan and his longtime ally, Michael McClain, testifying that people were given do-nothing jobs at ComEd so Madigan would look favorably at the utility's legislation.

Marquez’s testimony reached back more than a decade. And Cotter, who represents McClain, noted that Marquez testified earlier “as to what you understood Mike McClain meant when he said certain things to you … back in 2012 through 2019, right?”

“Understanding is at the heart of this case between yourself and others,” Cotter said. “That understanding is based entirely on the same memory we’ve all seen you talk about here in relation to attempting to buy the firearm?”

But Marquez just referred to a nearby “binder full of documents” — even lifting it at one point, which he said had helped him “refresh my memory” during his testimony.

“I didn’t have the plea agreement in my pocket, or on my phone, to refer to it” when trying to buy the gun, Marquez explained.

Madigan attorney Tom Breen later got his first shot at cross-examining Marquez. He raised his voice and gestured toward Marquez after the former executive insisted he couldn’t “recollect” whether FBI agents had made any offer to him in January 2019 when persuading him to wear a wire.

“You agreed, in a criminal investigation, to wear wires recording conversations with your four friends?” Breen said. “And you’re telling us that the FBI did not give you any consideration, any inducement, to set up your four friends?”

“What I said was, ‘I don’t recall,’” Marquez insisted.

Madigan’s attorneys also apparently intend to ask Marquez about an indirect civil contempt of court finding against him in 2022.

Madigan and McClain are on trial for a racketeering conspiracy. Madigan, who resigned in 2021, is accused of leading a criminal enterprise, designed to enhance his political power and enrich his allies, with McClain acting as his agent.

One key pillar of the case is an alleged bribery scheme involving ComEd. Prosecutors say five Madigan allies were paid $1.3 million by ComEd for do-nothing jobs so that Madigan would look favorably at its legislation. McClain has already been convicted for his role in the scheme.

Cotter spent much of the day Tuesday cross-examining Marquez. But things got heated Wednesday when Cotter brought up Marquez’s attempted purchase of the gun. Marquez answered “no” when asked on a form if he was “under indictment or information in any court for a felony.” He also answered “no” when asked if he had “ever been convicted in any court … of a felony.”

The feds filed charges against Marquez in 2020 using a document known as an “information,” and he pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy that same year. In court Wednesday, Marquez testified that the word “information” did not “strike” or stick with him years later, though.

Marquez’s lawyers told U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in April that he tried to buy the gun to fend off rattlesnakes in Arizona, where he lives. Rowland, who presides over Marquez’s case, called the episode a “gift” to Madigan's defense.

Both Cotter and Breen also grilled Marquez on his long, close relationships with the people he recorded as a government source — including McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and onetime City Club President Jay Doherty.

Marquez said he couldn’t recall exactly what FBI agents had offered him when they confronted him in January 2019.

“You were in the ComEd family, were you not?” Breen asked.

“Yes,” Marquez replied.

“You agreed without any consideration … to wear wires on your ComEd family, correct?” Breen shot back.

Marquez said he had.