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No job at AT&T for ‘loose-lipped’ Madigan ally — until exec ‘got a call,’ jurors hear

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No job at AT&T for ‘loose-lipped’ Madigan ally — until exec ‘got a call,’ jurors hear

Edward “Eddie” Acevedo found himself hunting for work after he ended his two decades in the state Legislature in 2017, but no one at AT&T Illinois seemed interested in hiring the onetime legislative leader, a jury heard Thursday.

Former longtime AT&T lobbyist Stephen Selcke explained that Acevedo had a tendency to have “too much to drink” at night in Springfield, “could get somewhat belligerent and, to a degree, a little loose-lipped” — characteristics that “wouldn’t be necessarily ideal.”

But in March 2017, AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza wrote in an email that he “got a call,” and he asked his lobbying team to “move quickly” on a “small contract” for Acevedo.

The push came when the utility was trying to pass crucial legislation. Selcke said he believed the request came from a Springfield insider named Michael McClain. And Selcke explained to a jury Thursday why the contract for Acevedo was likely so important to La Schiazza.

“My impression was that Mr. McClain was advancing a request to [La Schiazza] after a presumed discussion that he had had with Speaker [Michael] Madigan,” Selcke testified.

Now Selcke has taken the stand as the star witness in the trial of La Schiazza. The ex-utility head has been accused by federal prosecutors of bribing Madigan by paying Acevedo $22,500 over nine months, through a third party, to push a key bill over the finish line.

Acevedo, a Southwest Side Democrat, once served as a high-ranking member of Madigan’s leadership team in the House. Madigan left the Legislature in 2021 and has faced racketeering conspiracy charges since 2022.

“Unfortunately, today’s testimony neglected to mention Edward Acevedo’s honorable 20 years of service as an Illinois state legislator, a police officer and a never-ending advocate for the Latino community,” Gabrielle Sansonetti, Acevedo’s defense attorney, told the Sun-Times after Thursday’s testimony ended.

La Schiazza’s defense attorneys have argued their client was trying to build and maintain goodwill with Illinois’ powerful House speaker, but prosecutors began to poke holes in that argument with Selcke’s testimony, which is expected to continue Friday.

Selcke is testifying pursuant to an immunity deal, prosecutors have said.

After explaining to jurors Wednesday just how much power Madigan wielded in Springfield, the feds spent time Thursday showing jurors how McClain inserted himself in AT&T’s 2017 lobbying efforts — even though McClain purportedly retired as a lobbyist in 2016.

Near the end of the day Wednesday, the feds showed jurors a letter McClain wrote to Madigan in December 2016. Though it said McClain would be ending his lobbying career, he wrote that he was “willing” to do “assignments” for Madigan, his longtime friend.

“I am at the bridge with my musket standing with and for the Madigan family,” McClain wrote. “I will never leave your side.”

Former lawmakers have also testified about McClain’s boasting that he was “close” with the powerful Southwest Side Democrat.

Then, on Feb. 16, 2017, La Schiazza sent his team an email explaining that McClain had reached out. Madigan had assigned McClain to work on AT&T Illinois’ top legislative priority as a “special project,” La Schiazza explained.

AT&T Illinois wanted to pass a bill to help end its costly obligation to provide landline telephone service to all Illinoisans.

Two days earlier, McClain had separately emailed another AT&T Illinois official to ask “is there even a small contract for Eddie Acevedo?”

It wasn’t until March 28, 2017, that La Schiazza sent the note that he “got a call” and asked about money for Acevedo. But in the meantime, Selcke said he’d been pulled aside by members of the Republican caucus who heard Acevedo was looking for work.

Selcke testified Thursday that they told him “some members of the Republican caucus would not look favorably on our major legislative initiatives” if AT&T Illinois hired Acevedo. Selcke testified that Acevedo could be “particularly partisan” during his legislative career.

“He wouldn’t go out of his way to help advance a Republican-sponsored bill, even though it wouldn’t hurt him to do that,” Selcke said.

Selcke passed along the warning he’d received and told his colleagues in an email that “if we have to do this we don’t want to have Eddie register as a lobbyist.”

The utility wound up making nine monthly $2,500 payments to Acevedo through a firm belonging to lobbyist Tom Cullen, records show.

One of Selcke’s colleagues actually wrote that “a contract like A. Collins would be the preferred approach.” That was a reference to former state Sen. Annazette Collins, who had landed a contract with AT&T Illinois, Selcke explained.

Collins was sentenced in June to one year in prison for cheating on her taxes. Acevedo served a six-month sentence in 2022 for tax evasion. And McClain was convicted in May 2023 for his role in a bribery scheme involving ComEd. He is challenging the verdict and has not been sentenced.

However, McClain faces another trial in October for the alleged AT&T Illinois scheme and other charges. Madigan is set to face trial along with him.

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