The longest-serving legislative leader in US history will be sentenced on corruption charges

Michael Madigan’s stunning political collapse is expected to culminate Friday when the longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history is sentenced on federal bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud convictions tied to a scheme to push legislation in exchange for jobs and contracts for his associates. Madigan will appear in U.S. District Court Friday in Chicago, where Judge John Robert Blakey will determine his sentence. Madigan’s attorneys are seeking probation, contending the government’s sentence would “condemn an 83-year-old man to die behind bars for crimes that enriched him not one penny.”