Trial expected to last months
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The corruption trial for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has begun.
Madigan had been indicted on federal racketeering and bribery charges as a part of what federal prosecutors call "the Madigan enterprise," where they say he allegedly committed crimes for his personal gain and that of his political allies.
The blockbuster trial is expected to take several months.
Check back with ABC7 Chicago for live updates.
Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday morning, after months of testimony.
The government formally rested just minutes after the jury was seated.
After this week, the jury will be off for the holidays, and return Jan. 2.
Deno Perdiou from AT&T began his testimony Tuesday.
He's worked for AT&T for 26 years.
During 2016-2018, he was the director of regulatory affairs under AT&T President Paul LaSchiazza.
Former Illinois state Rep. Avery Bourne took the stand Tuesday.
She lives in Morrisonville, Illinois, and has for the past five years.
She is an independent contractor focusing on communications work.
Bourne served in the state legislature for almost eight years, since 2015.
Bourne explained the requests made to her to add the Chinatown parking lot parcel to the land transfer bill at the end of the spring session.
On May 31, 2018, McCreery texted her, "Is there any chance you would run that bill with our Chinatown language as a floor amendment? The speaker would call and support it."
Bourne responded, "I won't if IDOT has concerns. They're the experts on this, and I'm not comfortable with a different process with this piece."
Bourne was also concerned about the timing, saying, "the process and the timing of this and having it rushed at the end of session."
Bourne had a conversation with Jim Durkin about this, as well, in which she told him she was not in support of the added Chinatown amendment.
There were attempts to find another sponsor, Dan Burke.
However, Bourne remained the sponsor of the land use bill. It ended up passing in the fall of 2018 (without the Chinatown amendment).
Lobbyist Ryan McCreery took the stand first Tuesday.
He was the former deputy director for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
He was also a former aide to lobbyist Nancy Kimme.
He now owns his own firm.
He helped draft legislation and the amendment language for a Chinatown land transfer bill.
The defense team for former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan wants the judge to dismiss one of the criminal counts against him.
That count claims Madigan used his influence to get AT&T to pay former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo more than $20,000 for a no-work consulting contract.
Prosecutors want to call Acevedo to the stand Wednesday.
His attorney said Acevedo has been diagnosed with dementia, and is not competent to testify.
The judge said he'll decide on that and the AT&T count later Tuesday.
