Key witness in Michael Madigan probe due in court over alleged gun-purchase lie

CHICAGO — Former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, a key witness in the upcoming racketeering trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan, is due in court Friday over allegations that he lied about his criminal status when filling out paperwork to buy a gun last month.

Marquez, who currently lives in Tucson, pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy in September 2020 and testified during the “ComEd Four” trial last year about secret recordings he made during the FBI investigation. He could have faced years behind bars, but prosecutors have said they will ask for probation when Marquez is ultimately sentenced.

Lawyers for the ComEd four made Marquez’s credibility a front-and-center issue, and information that he lied on federal paperwork could certainly be fodder for the defense at Madigan’s trial in October.

The issue was revealed in a filing last month, where prosecutors said when Marquez attempted to purchase a gun from a retailer on March 8, he allegedly responded “no” on federal paperwork asking if he was “under indictment or information in any court for a felony.”

Marquez also responded “no” to another question asking if he’d ever been convicted of a felony, according to the filing. The mandatory review process flagged Marquez’s bribery case in Chicago and his attempt to purchase the gun was denied, prosecutors said.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago was notified of the issue several days later. On March 22, prosecutors asked for an in-person hearing so that they could provide additional information to the court and the judge could “admonish the defendant accordingly.”

The hearing is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Friday before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland.

Marquez, 62, ComEd’s onetime vice president of governmental affairs, was charged during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Friday’s hearing will mark the only time he’s physically appeared in court on his own case.

Prosecutors said they were aware at Marquez’s arraignment and guilty plea hearing in September 2020, which was held by telephone, that he already had two guns in his house, and he was allowed to keep them while free on bond.

Marquez memorably testified in the “ComEd Four” case in March 2023 about his decision to cooperate after being confronted by the FBI at his mother’s house four years earlier.

He wound up providing crucial evidence of a scheme to steer $1.3 million in payments from ComEd to Madigan-approved subcontractors who did little or no work in a bid to win the speaker’s influence over the utility’s legislative agenda in Springfield.

The jury convicted Michael McClain, a former ComEd lobbyist and Madigan’s longtime confidant, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, John Hooker, a former ComEd executive and lobbyist, and Jay Doherty, a former ComEd contract lobbyist who served for years as president of the City Club civic organization. All four are awaiting sentencing.

McClain, meanwhile, is also facing trial with Madigan in October on the separate racketeering indictment. They have both pleaded not guilty.

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