Oilers rally in Game 4, drop Panthers in OT to knot finals

Oilers rally in Game 4, drop Panthers in OT to knot finals

Leon Draisaitl scored another overtime goal. The Edmonton Oilers completed another comeback. And the end result is a tied Stanley Cup Final thanks to a 5-4 overtime victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla. Draisaitl capped a three-point outing with an NHL-single-season-record fourth overtime winner of the playoffs, and second of the finals, thanks to a one-handed pass attempt that banked in off a defender. The best-of-seven series returns to Edmonton for Game 5 on Saturday tied at two wins apiece. Three of the four games have gone to overtime in the rematch of last year's finals that Florida won in seven games. Edmonton is the first team in finals history to win after trailing 3-0 through the first period. Clubs with that edge had a 37-0 record. "We believe no matter how bad it is, if we get over that hump of adversity, we're going to keep pushing, gonna keep coming and eventually, it'll break," said Draisaitl, who joined Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history to record 10 goals and 20 assists in multiple playoff runs. Draisaitl, who won Game 1 in overtime, is the third player in NHL history with multiple OT goals in a Stanley Cup Final. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin all collected one goal and one assist for the Oilers, who turned a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 lead before watching that edge disappear in the dying seconds of regulation. Edmonton's Jake Walman also scored, and Mattias Ekholm recorded two assists. Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced after taking the net following the first period. Starting netminder Stuart Skinner surrendered three goals on 17 shots in the opening frame before being pulled for the second consecutive game. Pickard has a 7-0 record in the 2025 playoffs. He saved Edmonton's first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings before sustaining an injury in the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights, but once he again delivered when his team needed him most. "Unbelievable to be able to step into a game like that," Nugent-Hopkins said. "He made some huge saves, really tough saves, clutch saves." Matthew Tkachuk scored twice in a three-point outing while Sam Reinhart had a goal in a three-point game for Florida, which had a golden chance to take a stranglehold on the series. Anton Lundell also scored, Aleksander Barkov had two assists and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots. "If you plan for seven games, that means you're losing three of them," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "So, take that pain and use it and come back." The Panthers dominated the opening period. Tkachuk scored his first of the game -- and of the series -- at 11:40 when he buried a shot from the left circle during a five-on-three power play, then doubled the lead five minutes later with another man-advantage marker. Lundell made it a 3-0 affair with 41.7 seconds remaining in the period. The Oilers responded with their best period of the series in the second frame. Nugent-Hopkins began the comeback at 3:33 during a power play, Edmonton's ninth consecutive game with an extra-man goal, and Nurse made it a one-goal game at 12:47 of the second. Podkolzin tied the clash a couple of minutes later when he pounced on a loose puck during a flurry and found the mark. Walman gave Edmonton its first lead of the game at 13:36 of the third period, but Reinhart's goal with 19.5 seconds remaining in regulation forced overtime yet again. Instead of building on their comeback, the Panthers must recover. "The result at the end (hurts), but what are you gonna do?" Tkachuk said. "The team that recovers the fastest will have the bigger advantage on Saturday. That's it." --Field Level Media

byMario Satorik

in

June 12, 2025

Oilers rally in Game 4, drop Panthers in OT to knot finals

Oilers rally in Game 4, drop Panthers in OT to knot finals Leon Draisaitl scored another overtime goal. The Edmonton Oilers completed anothe...

Read More

Phil Mickelson walks in silence in possibly his last U.S. Open

Phil Mickelson walks in silence in possibly his last U.S. Open

OAKMONT, Pa. — As Phil Mickelson, aka Lefty, aka Phil the Thrill, aka FIGJAM, aka one of the two most famous golfers of the 21st century, teed off Thursday in what might be his final U.S. Open, there were more security guards than journalists following him. And there were two security guards. Clad in HyFlyers gear, looking more trim than he ever did during his apex of popularity, Mickelson — like many of his fellow competitors at Oakmont — played well on the back nine and struggled on the front en route to a 4-over 74. And like most of his fellow competitors, he walked in virtual silence from the galleries, with only an occasional "Go Phil!" punctuating the silence. By this point, Mickelson's fall from golf's good graces isn't just well-documented, it's canon. Once the darling of the golf world — the rascally, cocky yin to Tiger Woods' steely yang — Mickelson lived a charmed life, getting himself into and out of trouble both on and off the golf course. He somehow radiated arrogant confidence while remaining a hero of the everyman. But then the Saudis came calling, and Mickelson couldn't resist their siren call, or the chance to stick it to the PGA Tour. Even though Mickelson turned out to be right about the ways the PGA Tour needed to change, the way he went about it with cynical opportunism turned the majority of his former fans against him. Mickelson and the U.S. Open have a long and complicated history all their own. He's finished in second place six different times, an incredible run of almost-good-luck that's kept him from claiming the career grand slam. Matters bottomed out in 2018, when Mickelson, in frustration, hit a still-moving ball at Shinnecock Hills en route to a T48 finish. He's missed the cut at four of the last five U.S. Opens, including the last three. And as of this year, he's all out of the exemptions that he'd earned for winning the 2021 PGA Championship … meaning, if he wants back in, he'll need to either receive a special exemption from the USGA, or play his way back in. "We hope he earns his way in, and I think he'd tell you the same thing," USGA chief championships officer John Bodenhamer said on Wednesday. "That's what he did last time. We gave him one, and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So, wouldn't put it past him." Expecting a performance that would qualify him to play in another U.S. Open is a pretty tall order at this point. Mickelson has three top-10 finishes in seven LIV Golf events this year, including a T4 last week in Virginia where he spent time in the lead. For a moment on Thursday, it appeared that momentum had carried through to Oakmont. He made the turn at even par, good enough to stay within sight of the leaders. But a bogey-bogey-double start to his second nine effectively crushed his day, leaving him eight strokes behind clubhouse leader J.J. Spaun. Mickelson declined to speak to the media after he finished, and will have perhaps just one more opportunity to perform before a U.S. Open gallery. Thirty-one years ago, Arnold Palmer also bade farewell to the U.S. Open, also at Oakmont. He walked up the 18th hole to waves of applause and tears. Regardless of how his career has flickered in the last few years, Mickelson will likely receive the same treatment. It will be a well-deserved coda to his career, but you can't help but wonder what the reception would be without the last few years coloring his reputation.

byMario Satorik

in

June 12, 2025

Phil Mickelson walks in silence in possibly his last U.S. Open

Phil Mickelson walks in silence in possibly his last U.S. Open OAKMONT, Pa. — As Phil Mickelson, aka Lefty, aka Phil the Thrill, aka FIGJAM,...

Read More

As legal fight over Guard deployment plays out, Noem vows to continue Trump's immigration crackdown

As legal fight over Guard deployment plays out, Noem vows to continue Trump's immigration crackdown

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged to carry on with the Trump administration'simmigration crackdowndespite waves of unrest across the U.S. Hours after her comment Thursday, a judge directed the president to return control to California over National Guard troops he deployed after protests erupted over the immigration crackdown, but an appeals court quickly put the brakes on that and temporarily blocked the order that was to go into effect on Friday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled a hearing on the matter for Tuesday. The federal judge'stemporary restraining ordersaid the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded PresidentDonald Trump's statutory authority. The order applied only to the National Guard troops and not Marines who were also deployed to the LA protests. The judge said he would not rule on the Marines because they were not out on the streets yet. Gov. Gavin Newsom who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops helping carry out immigration raids, had praised the order before it was blocked saying "today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed the test" and had said he would be redeploying Guard soldiers to "what they were doing before Donald Trump commandeered them." White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the president acted within his powers and that the federal judge's order "puts our brave federal officials in danger. The district court has no authority to usurp the President's authority as Commander in Chief." The developments unfolded as protests continued in cities nationwide and the countrybraced for major demonstrationsagainst Trump over the weekend. 'This is only going to continue,' DHS chief says of raids Noem said the immigration raids that fueled the protests would move forward and agents have thousands of targets. "This is only going to continue until we have peace on the streets of Los Angeles," she said during a news conference that was interrupted by shouting from U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who wasforcibly removed from the event. Newsom has warned that the military intervention is part of abroader effort by Trumpto overturn norms at the heart of the nation's democracy. He also said sending Guard troops on the raids has furtherinflamed tensionsin LA. So far the protests have been centered mostly in downtown near City Hall and a federal detention center where someimmigrantsare being held. Much of the sprawling city has been spared from the protests. On the third night of an 8 p.m. curfew, Los Angeles police arrested several demonstrators who refused orders to leave a street downtown. Earlier in the night, officers with the Department of Homeland Security deployed flash bangs to disperse a crowd that had gathered near the jail, sending protesters sprinting away. Those incidents were outliers. As with the past two nights, the hours-long demonstrations remained peaceful and upbeat, drawing a few hundred attendees who marched through downtown chanting, dancing and poking fun at the Trump administration's characterization of the city as a "war zone." Elsewhere, demonstrations have picked up across the U.S.,emerging in morethan a dozen major cities. Some have led to clashes with police and hundreds have been arrested. Noem calls action in LA a blueprint The immigration agents conducting the raids in LA are "putting together a model and a blueprint" for other communities, Noem said. She pledged that federal authorities "are not going away" even though, she said, officers have been hit with rocks and bricks and assaulted. She said people with criminal records who are in the country illegally and violent protesters will "face consequences." "Just because you think you're here as a citizen, or because you're a member of a certain group or you're not a citizen, it doesn't mean that you're going to be protected and not face consequences from the laws that this country stands for," she said. Noem criticized the Padilla's interruption, calling it "inappropriate." A statement from her agency said the two met after the news conference for about 15 minutes, but it also chided him for "disrespectful political theater." Padilla said later that he was demanding answers about the "increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions" and only wanted to ask Noem a question. He said he was handcuffed but not arrested. "If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers throughout the Los Angeles community," he said. Military involvement escalates in LA The administration has said it is willing to send troops to other cities to assist with immigration enforcement and controlling disturbances — in line with what Trumppromised during last year's campaign. Some 2,000 Guard soldiers were in the nation's second-largest city and were soon to be joined by 2,000 more, along with about 700 Marines, said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, who is in charge of the operation. About 500 of the Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents onimmigration operations, Sherman said Wednesday. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests must be made by law enforcement. States face questions on deploying troops With more demonstrationsexpected over the weekend, and the possibility that Trump could send troops to other states for immigration enforcement,governors are weighing what to do. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has put5,000 National Guard memberson standby in cities where demonstrations are planned. In other Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they may deploy troops. A group of Democratic governors earlier signed a statement this week calling Trump's deployments "an alarming abuse of power." Hundreds arrested in LA protests There have been about 470 arrests since Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police department. There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault against officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injuries. ___ Rodriguez reported from San Francisco and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego, Jesse Bedayn in Denver, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

byMario Satorik

in

June 12, 2025

As legal fight over Guard deployment plays out, Noem vows to continue Trump's immigration crackdown

As legal fight over Guard deployment plays out, Noem vows to continue Trump's immigration crackdown LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeland Security...

Read More

What to know about the Group of Seven summit in Canada that Trump will attend

What to know about the Group of Seven summit in Canada that Trump will attend

TORONTO (AP) — U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpwill arrive Sunday for a Group of Seven summit in a country he has suggested should be annexed and as he wages a trade war with America's longstanding allies. Trump's calls to make Canada the 51st U.S. state haveinfuriated Canadians, andPrime Minister Mark Carney, who won his office by pledging to confront the U.S. president's increased aggression, now hosts the G7 summit. Carney asserted this week that Washington no longer playsa predominant roleon the world stage, imposingtariffsfor access to its markets and reducing its contributions to collective security. Carney has decided to abandon the annual practice of issuing a lengthy joint statement, or communiqué, at the summit's conclusion as French President Emmanuel Macron did at theG7 summit in France in 2019. The document typically outlines the consensus reached by leaders on summit issues and provides a roadmap for how they plan to tackle them. Trump roiled the 2017 meeting in Italy over the climate change passage in that summit's final statement. He then withdrew his support from the 2018 communiqué after complaining he had been slighted by then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the host that year. The leaders of the world's richest countriesbegin arriving Sundayin the resort town of Kananaskis, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies. Who will attend The Group of Seven comprises Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain. The European Union also attends as well as other heads of state who are not part of the G7 but have been invited by Carney. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend and is expected to meet with Trump, a reunion coming just months after their contentiousOval Office encounter, which laid bare the risks of having a meeting with the U.S. president. Other world leaders will be meeting with Trump both in a group setting and for bilateral talks, which are often precarious as foreign leaders must navigate between placating and confronting him. "Anything could happen. The Canadians would be crazy not to anticipate something. We can't tell. That's Trump stock and trade. He likes to keep everyone guessing," said Robert Bothwell, a University of Toronto professor of Canadian history and international relations. "It all depends what kind of theater he's going to want to have," he said. Mexican PresidentClaudia Sheinbaumwill attend and said she expects to have her first in-person meeting with Trump. On his way to Canada, Macron is making a notable stop in Greenland, the semi autonomous Danish territory that the U.S. president has alsosuggested annexing. Among the other newcomers are German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Starmer will meet with Carney on Saturday in Ottawa before flying to Alberta. Carneyalso invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite accusations from Canada's national police force that agents of Modi's government were involved in "widespread" violence in Canada. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, was invited but will not attend. Will Trump upstage this G7 too? The 2018 G7 summit in Quebecwas thrown into disarrayafter Trump called Trudeau "dishonest" and "weak," while complaining that he had been blindsided by Trudeau's criticism of Trump's tariff threats at a summit-ending news conference. Trump pulled out of the G7 group statement just as it was released. "We weren't too happy because we thought we managed to pull off a pretty good summit," said Peter Boehm, Canada's deputy minister for the Quebec summit." The reaction — and I was with Mr. Trudeau at the time — was a bit of disbelief." Boehm expects a chair's summary from Carney this year instead of a joint statement from the leaders. During the Quebec summit, Trump also insisted onRussia's readmission to the elite group, from which it was ousted in 2014 following President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea. "Trump raised that at the foreign policy dinner," Boehm recalled. "It was a bit awkward because British Prime Minister Theresa May was there and some British citizens had just been killed by Russian operatives using a toxic agent." Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia,were targeted in a nerve agent attacka few months before the Quebec summit in the English city of Salisbury. Looming tariffs U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra has said that Carney has been quietly holding direct talks with Trump about a trade deal in the lead up to the summit. Separately, top Canadian cabinet ministers have also been in Washington for negotiations in recent weeks. Trade tensions may be unavoidable. The United States runs trade deficits with all G7 countries except the United Kingdom. In an effort to balance what he describes as America's lopsided trade relations, Trump has imposed 10% import taxes — tariffs — on almost every country in the world. He also announced bigger tariffs, then suspended them, on countries that sell more to the United States than they buy. "The big X Factor (is) the looming tariffs," said Max Bergmann of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The G7 is supposed to provide global economic governance. And the way the Europeans see it right now is that the country that's the source of major instability in global economic affairs is the United States.'' Trump's trade wars are already threatening the world economy. The World Bank on Tuesday sharplydowngraded its forecast for global economic growththis year, citing "a substantial rise in trade barriers.'' A prelude to NATO summit NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will attend the G7 meeting ahead of this month'sNATO summitand has said most U.S. allies in the alliance endorseTrump's demandthat they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense needs. Carney said this week Canada wouldmeet NATO's current 2% targetbut seemed to suggest he would not support 5%, saying his goal is to protect Canadians, and not to satisfy NATO accountants. Why such a remote location Law enforcement overseeing security expect large protests but say protesters won't be able to get anywhere near Kananaskis, as access roads to the summit will be closed to the public. The Mounties say there will be designated G7 demonstration zones in Calgary and Banff, Alberta that will have live audio and video feeds, which will be broadcast to G7 leaders and delegations at the summit. Kananaskis also hosted a G8 summit in 2002. ___ Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.

byMario Satorik

in

June 12, 2025

What to know about the Group of Seven summit in Canada that Trump will attend

What to know about the Group of Seven summit in Canada that Trump will attend TORONTO (AP) — U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpwill arrive Sunday fo...

Read More

Struggling Rockies snap five-game skid, avoid setting new record for worst start in modern era

Struggling Rockies snap five-game skid, avoid setting new record for worst start in modern era

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Rockies got a win on Thursday and avoided reaching a new low and setting the record for the worst start in the modern era. Orlando Arcia's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inninggave the Rockies an 8-7 winover the San Francisco Giants. It moved Colorado's record to 13-55 — tied with the 1932 Boston Red Sox for the worst. That Red Sox team also won its 68th game. The Rockies are aware of the record, but it is not something they dwell on. "We look at it," Ryan McMahon said. "I know it to a 'T.' I think we all do, man." After a 9-50 start, the Rockies have made some recent headway under interim manager Warren Schaeffer. They are 4-5 in their last nine after breaking a five-game losing streak. "I think we are just playing better baseball," said McMahon, who drew a walk in the ninth inning and scored the winning run. "As long as you focus on that when you are out in the field, the record takes care of itself. We can't get it all back in one day. We have to take it pitch by pitch, day by day." The poor start was "bad, man," he continued. "I think that almost made it a little bit easier, because you don't want to think about it. You want to just focus on what you are doing every day when you get here and keep trying to win more games. "To do what we did today, not give up, keep fighting. I think overall, that's just big. You can look back at that. You can remember we've come back from situations like this before and that It kind of helps you keep going." Arcia has been part of winning organizations in Milwaukee and Atlanta in his 10-year career, and has played in the postseason each of the last seven years. "We're not focusing on what happened in the past," said Arcia, acquired May 28 after being released by Atlanta. "We're taking it day by day. We're just trying to look to the future. I told my people I came here to do a job, and to come out and play and help this team win however I can." ___ AP MLB:https://www.apnews.com/hub/MLB

byMario Satorik

in

June 12, 2025

Struggling Rockies snap five-game skid, avoid setting new record for worst start in modern era

Struggling Rockies snap five-game skid, avoid setting new record for worst start in modern era DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Rockies got a win ...

Read More

Scottie Scheffler has frustrating day at the US Open to fall 7 shots off the pace

Scottie Scheffler has frustrating day at the US Open to fall 7 shots off the pace

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) —Scottie Schefflerkept coming back to the same answer when asked in different ways how a day that began with optimism at the U.S. Open turned into a 5 1/2-hour slog that left him well off the front page of the leaderboard. "I've probably got to give myself a few more looks," the world's top-ranked player said Thursday after a 3-over 73 left him seven shots behindfront-runner J.J. Spaun. Scheffler was talking about looks for reasonable birdie putts. Those didn't happen nearly enough during 5 1/2 often arduous hours at Oakmont. As for plain old "looks," however, well the three-time major winner had those in abundance. Looks of frustration, like when his drive on the par-5 12th landed in the middle of a fairway that slopes massively from left to right and kept rolling, and rolling, and rolling until it was in the first cut of the course's signature ankle-deep rough. Looks of bafflement, like when his 6-foot par putt at the par-3 13th slid by, causing him to put his hand over his mouth and turn to caddie Ted Scott as if to say, "What just happened?" Looks of anger, like when his wedge from 83 yards on the easy (by Oakmont standards) par-4 14th landed 40 feet past the hole. Scheffler slammed the club into the ground before collecting himself to two-putt. Looks of annoyance. When his 12-foot birdie attempt at the par-4 17th lipped out, Scheffler bent over, pressed his hands on his knees and appeared to sigh before standing back up. That doesn't even include what he described as "sloppy" bogeys on the par-4 third and par-5 fourth, when he found the sand off the tee. It added up to tying his worst opening round in a major ever. He did that at the 2021 Masters, a year before he began a run of dominance not seen since Tiger Woods' prime two decades ago. Heck, he even managed a 1-under 69 at Oakmont as a 19-year-old amateur in 2016. Nine years later, Scheffler's life is very different. When he walked out of the scoring area in the late spring twilight, toddler son Bennett and wife Meredith and other members of his family were waiting. The course, however, remains the same physically and mentally draining task it has always been. There's a reason Scheffler teed off at 1:25 p.m. and didn't tap in for par on 18 until 6:52 p.m. even though there wasn't a hint of rain, or wind or any other external factors to gum up the works. There was only Oakmont being Oakmont. The fairways that Spaun navigated to a 4-under 66 in the morning dried up throughout the kind of muggy, sun-baked day that's been uncommon during Western Pennsylvania's very cool and very wet spring. Scheffler only made two putts over 10 feet, none over the final seven holes and three-putted the par-3 13th. How? He has no idea. Yet he also knows one middling round doesn't necessarily ruin his chances of winning the third leg of the grand slam. Play a little "sharper" in the second round, and he thinks he might be in a better position come the weekend. "When you're playing these types of tests that are this challenging, there's usually still a way to score," he said. He might to find them sooner rather than later. In each of Scheffler's 16 PGA Tour victories, he found himself inside the top 30 after 18 holes. He'll be outside that number when he puts his tee in the ground at No. 10 on Friday morning to start his second round. "I'll clean up some of those mistakes, a couple three putts and stuff like that," he said. "And I think tomorrow will be a better day." ___ AP golf:https://apnews.com/hub/golf

byMario Satorik

in

June 12, 2025

Scottie Scheffler has frustrating day at the US Open to fall 7 shots off the pace

Scottie Scheffler has frustrating day at the US Open to fall 7 shots off the pace OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) —Scottie Schefflerkept coming back to th...

Read More

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

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

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Michael Madigan's stunning political collapse is expected to culminate Friday when thelongest-serving legislative leaderin U.S. history is sentenced on federalbribery, conspiracy and wire fraudconvictions tied to a scheme to push legislation in exchange for jobs and contracts for his associates. The former Illinois House speaker was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts in a remarkable corruption trial thatlasted four months. The case churned through 60 witnesses and mountains of documents, photographs andtaped conversations. Madigan will appear in U.S. District Court Friday in Chicago, where Judge John Robert Blakey will determine his sentence. Federalprosecutors are seeking a 12 1/2-year prison term. Madigan'sattorneys 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." During alegislative career that spanned a half-century, Madigan served nearly four decades as speaker, the longest on record for a U.S. legislator. Combined with more than 20 years as chairperson of the Illinois Democratic Party, he set much of the state's political agenda while handpicking candidates for political office. More often than not, he also controlled political mapmaking, drawing lines to favor his party. Meanwhile, prosecutors said, the Chicago Democrat built a private legal career that allowed him to amass a net worth of $40 million. Madigan was convicted on 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud and other charges for ensuring approval of legislation favorable to utility giant ComEd in exchange for kickbacks and jobs and contracts for loyalists, including a Chicago alderman seeking a paid job on a state board after retiring from government. The jury deadlocked on six counts, including an overarching racketeering conspiracy charge, and acquitted him on seven others. "Madigan'scriminal activity spanned nearly a decadeand was particularly egregious because it involved efforts to enrich himself — both by maintaining his political power by securing do-nothing jobs for his political allies and by attempting to line his own pockets with legal business," prosecutors wrote in a court filing. "In so doing, Madigan served his own personal interests and not the interests of Illinoisans." Defense lawyers called the government's recommended sentence "draconian" and, given Madigan's age, a life sentence. They asked Blakey to consider the totality of Madigan's life and work and the need to care for his wife in requesting a sentence of five years' probation, with one year of home confinement, a requirement to perform community service and a "reasonable fine." In a video submitted to the court, Madigan's wife, Shirley, asks for a sentence of probation, explaining that Madigan is her caregiver and she would have to seek outside help if he is imprisoned. And, she says, "I'm a part of him." "There's some days I keep him going," Shirley Madigan says on the video. "He keeps me going sometimes, too, but I think that the impact that I have on him has been much, much larger." The court received more than 200 letters of support for Madigan, many from constituents, friends, leaders of nonprofits and other organizations that interact with the state. Some noted asking him for help just once. Most lauded him for dedication, integrity or a personal touch. "Mike Madigan is a good man who has selflessly done an exceptional amount of good for others," his lawyers wrote in a separate filing. "He is widely respected for his dedication to honesty and integrity." Tried alongside Madigan was his former legislative colleague and longtime confidant, Michael McClain. The jury couldn't reach a decision on any of the six counts against McClain. He was convicted, though, in a separate trial over the ComEd conspiracy last year.

byMario Satorik

in

June 12, 2025

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

The longest-serving legislative leader in US history will be sentenced on corruption charges SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Michael Madigan's ...

Read More