His attorney is still proceeding with an appeal of his conviction
CHICAGO, Ill.–Michael McClain, the long-time attorney, lobbyist and Democratic powerbroker from Quincy who sat at the right hand of the most powerful man in Illinois state politics for decades, is still waiting for a facility assignment to serve a two-year prison sentence after he was found guilty on federal bribery charges.
He was originally expected to report on October 30.
“The Bureau of Prisons has not provided information about what facility he is to report to,” McClain’s attorney, Patrick Cotter, told Muddy River News Thursday. “Over a week ago, we informed the court, and the court agreed to extend his report date until next Thursday, which is November 13th.”
Cotter said the bureau did not give a reason as to why it had not provided a location yet.
Muddy River News received an email statement from BOP, which said the government shutdown meant there was nobody available to answer any questions.
McClain was prosecuted along with three other co-defendants in the “CoMed Four” case.
The Chicago law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP secured dismissal of all remaining charges against McClain stemming from the federal criminal public corruption trial when he was a co-defendant with former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
McClain asked to be sent to either Springfield, Missouri or Rochester, Minnesota.
Cotter said he would not comment when asked how Mr. McClain is holding up because such information is personal.
This summer marked six years since the FBI raid of McClain’s Quincy home.
McClain went through two separate trials, convicted in the first one, not convicted in the second, where Madigan was found guilty on 10 counts of conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison.
To McClain’s friends and neighbors, he was a guy who served on boards and raised money for causes he cared about. He was a prime mover to keep the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy open after the Legionnaires outbreak in 2015, and helped to secure more than $200 million to renovate the facility.
“Mike McClain is my friend and he’s a good man,” Former Democratic Quincy Mayor Chuck Scholz said, shortly after the sentence was handed down. “I hope he prevails on appeals. Prosecutors are overstepping and criminalizing politics. Hopefully, the Illinois Supreme Court reins this in. This case is pretty thin soup. Mike was collateral damage. It’s tragic.”
Former Republican Quincy Mayor Kyle Moore said the case and the aftermath go beyond one person or group of defendants.
“It’s unfortunate for our state that the latest news is once again centered around a retired elected official being sentenced to prison,” Moore said this past summer. “Our ethics laws must be strengthened, and I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will not hesitate to act.”
