The son of former Democratic state Rep. Edward Acevedo pleaded guilty Monday to federal tax charges connected to the sprawling investigation of Commonwealth Edison’s alleged attempts to influence then-House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Michael Acevedo, 36, of Chicago, entered his plea to three counts of failing to file federal tax returns, which each carry a term of up to a year in prison.
U.S. District Judge John Kness set sentencing for March 15, which happens to be in the middle of the scheduled trial of four people in the ComEd bribery case that spurred Acevedo’s own prosecution.
Acevedo, his brother Alex Acevedo and their father were all charged in separate indictments in 2021 with filing false tax returns in connection with the family’s lobbying firm, Apex Strategy LLC.
According to Michael Acevedo’s plea agreement with prosecutors, after Apex was founded in 2015, he failed to file tax returns documenting the company’s revenues for five years, and misstated his income for a sixth year. In all, the tax loss to the IRS and state treasury was calculated at about $137,650, according to the plea.
Edward Acevedo, 59, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March to six months in prison. He was released last week, records show.
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Alex Acevedo, a registered nurse who previously made failed bids for Chicago alderman and to replace his father in the state legislature, is set to go to trial in January.
Edward Acevedo, a former Chicago police officer, served as Madigan’s assistant majority leader in the House before retiring in 2017. He went on to work as a consultant paid by former state Rep. John Bradley, a Democrat from downstate Marion and a onetime contract lobbyist for ComEd.
Edward Acevedo previously told the Tribune he’d been interviewed by federal investigators as part of that probe. But when he was indicted, the relatively minor tax charges made no reference to the ComEd investigation or Madigan at all, and when he pleaded guilty in December 2021, his agreement with the government did not contain any indication that he’d agreed to cooperate.
ComEd agreed in 2020 to pay a record $200 million fine as prosecutors unveiled a criminal complaint charging the company with a yearslong bribery scheme involving jobs, contracts and payments to Madigan allies. Under the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement with the government, the charges against the utility giant will be dropped next year if the company continues to cooperate.
In November 2020, Madigan’s longtime confidant Michael McClain and three others were charged. They’re scheduled to go on trial March 6.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, AT&T Illinois and the phone giant’s former president, Paul La Schiazza, were charged in a similar scheme to funnel payments to Acevedo in exchange for the speaker’s help passing legislation important to the company.
La Schiazza, 65, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, federal program bribery, and using a facility in interstate commerce to promote unlawful activity.
AT&T Illinois has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office, admitting its role in the scheme and agreeing to pay $23 million and cooperate in the investigation. In exchange, prosecutors will drop criminal charges filed against the company in two years.
Madigan and McClain were both charged in a separate indictment earlier this year with racketeering conspiracy alleging they participated in a range of corrupt schemes, including the ComEd and AT&T Illinois bribery.
The scandal helped end Madigan’s reign as the nation’s longest-serving speaker in January 2021. Madigan later resigned from the Illinois House and as Illinois Democratic Party chairman.