By HANNAH MEISEL
Capitol News Illinois
[email protected] 

CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced they intend to retry state Sen. Emil Jones III after his April trial on charges of bribery and lying to the FBI ended in a hung jury.

Jones, a Chicago Democrat and son of former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., stands accused of agreeing to take bribes from red-light camera entrepreneur-turned-government cooperator Omar Maani in 2019, then lying to FBI agents about it.

A jury earlier this spring deadlocked in their deliberations over the three counts and after 23 hours of behind-closed-doors debate, Judge Andrea Wood declared a mistrial. Back in her courtroom nearly seven weeks later, Assistant U.S. Attorney Prashant Kolluri told Wood “the government would like to retry the case.”

Scheduling a retrial won’t happen until next week, however, and Kolluri noted that given the three-week length of Jones’ original trial, the judge may want to consider blocking off four weeks for the new trial “because there may be a few additional witnesses.”

The government called five witnesses in April, including Maani, who testified that he’d met with Jones for three separate dinners in the summer of 2019 at the FBI’s direction. Maani offered a campaign contribution to the senator in the same conversation he asked about Jones’ willingness to drop or modify legislation that called for a statewide study of red-light camera systems in Illinois. Maani testified he worried a study could be a “prelude to a ban” on his industry.

But Jones was more interested in Maani hiring his former intern, Christopher Katz. 

“If you can raise me five grand, that’d be good,” Jones said on a secret video recording of his dinner with Maani on July 17, 2019, after Maani pushed him to come up with a number for the proposed campaign donation. “But most importantly, I have an intern working in my office and I’m trying to find him another job, another part-time job while he’s in school. … Do you all have any positions available?”

Prosecutors also called Katz to the witness stand, along with a pair of federal agents who questioned Jones about Maani in September 2019. But the jury could neither agree on whether Jones lied to the agents, nor whether Jones agreed to bribes in the form of a job for Katz or the campaign contribution — money that Maani never actually paid the senator.

During trial, Jones also made the risky decision to testify in his own defense. Jones told the jury that he was trying to avoid taking money from Maani, saying he gave off the vibe of a “used car salesman” and that he was aware Maani was trying to bribe him. But he also contradicted testimony from Katz, who downplayed his relationship with the senator, while Jones said they were close.

After Jones’ trial ended, the five-term senator returned to Springfield for the final weeks of the General Assembly’s spring legislative session; prior to his time in court, Jones hadn’t been to the Capitol since January’s lame duck session and inauguration activities.

Jones was originally indicted in September 2022 but went on to win another term in the Illinois Senate six weeks later, running unopposed. But he’s up for another four-year term in next year’s election cycle and will have to decide this summer whether he’ll circulate petitions in the fall to get on the March 2026 primary ballot while still under indictment or step away from politics.

Jones did not attend Tuesday’s hearing, but his attorneys indicated he’d need to be present for next week’s appearance to discuss a retrial schedule.

Madigan sentencing

Meanwhile on Tuesday, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan appeared at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse for the second time this week ahead of his Friday afternoon sentencing.

Madigan, who for decades was one of the most powerful politicians in Illinois, was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts after a four-month corruption trial. In a split verdict, jurors found Madigan guilty on bribery and related charges, while acquitting him on seven others and deadlocking on six more.

Prosecutors accused Madigan of using his positions of power — including as House speaker, head of the state’s Democratic Party and as partner in a real estate law firm — to benefit himself and those close to him. While the jury couldn’t agree on an overarching racketeering charge, the former speaker was convicted on charges related to alleged bribes involving electric utility Commonwealth Edison and former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis, who unbeknownst to Madigan, was acting as an FBI cooperator.

In dueling filings late last month, the feds asked Judge John Blakey to sentence Madigan to 12 ½ years in prison, while Madigan’s attorneys asked for five years’ probation, including one on home detention. In a brief hearing Monday, Blakey denied Madigan’s motion for a new trial.

Prosecutors also called for a $1.5 million fine, and in a filing last week, revealed Madigan has a net worth of $40 million — the first time that figure has ever been made public. The former speaker’s lawyers on Tuesday successfully argued for Madigan’s net worth to be stricken from the record, although defense attorney Dan Collins acknowledged it “seems a little hollow considering it has already been widely distributed.”

Madigan’s sentencing hearing technically commenced Tuesday as attorneys argued over sentencing guidelines, and whether to take into account trial testimony from a ComEd executive who estimated legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2011 was worth $400 million in additional shareholder value. Blakey will rule on that Friday when Madigan returns for his full sentencing hearing.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.