Former Ald. Danny Solis set to testify in Michael Madigan’s corruption trial, feds say

Danny Solis’ days on the federal witness stand may not be over.

Months after declining to call the notorious FBI mole to testify in the trial of ex-Ald. Edward M. Burke, prosecutors disclosed Monday that they intend to summon Solis to the stand in the trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, set for October.

That notice appears to short-circuit the kind of will-he/won’t-he drama that surrounded Solis’ role in Burke’s trial last fall. Solis was ultimately called to the stand by Burke’s defense attorneys, who questioned him for about three hours in December.

This time around, prosecutors say Solis will testify about allegations that Madigan agreed to help with the transfer of a property in Chinatown from the state to the city in exchange for business for Madigan’s private law firm, as well as an alleged scheme to help Solis land a spot on a state board.

“Solis understood from his position as an alderman and as a citizen of Illinois that Madigan had enormous influence over legislation in Springfield and that he was one of the most powerful politicians in Illinois,” prosecutors wrote in a key court filing Monday.

Solis, who chaired the zoning committee at City Hall, is expected to explain that before Solis began working with the feds in 2016, “Madigan asked Solis on multiple occasions to introduce Madigan to developers.”

“Solis understood that Madigan wanted these developers to become clients of his law firm and for his law firm to provide tax work for these developers,” the feds wrote.

Former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez also wore a wire for the feds as part of the Madigan investigation. Marquez took the witness stand during last year’s trial of four powerbrokers who were convicted of conspiring to bribe Madigan to benefit ComEd.

Marquez spent a week on the stand — and Solis could face a similar experience this fall.

Madigan is accused of leading a criminal enterprise for nearly a decade designed to enhance his political power and generate income for his allies and associates. The Southwest Side Democrat left office in 2021 and was indicted in March 2022.

Despite a series of corruption trials in 2023, Madigan’s promises to be the most significant at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse since the prosecution of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich more than a decade ago.

Also set to face trial with Madigan is his longtime confidant Michael McClain, who was convicted in the trial last year in which Marquez testified.

U.S. District Judge John Blakey in January delayed Madigan’s trial for six months, until Oct. 8, while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a separate Northwest Indiana corruption case. Arguments before the high court, revolving around a statute at play in Madigan’s case, are set for April 15.

Solis spent 23 years representing the 25th Ward on the City Council. But on June 1, 2016, FBI agents knocked on his door just before 8 a.m. and confronted him with evidence of his own alleged wrongdoing. Solis quickly agreed to work with the feds and wore a wire against powerful politicians like Burke, Madigan and others.

In fact, Solis has been described by the feds as one of Chicago’s “most significant cooperators in the last several decades.” The Chicago Sun-Times revealed his role as an undercover FBI mole in January 2019. He left the City Council later that year and went underground.

Then, in September, prosecutors told Burke’s defense attorneys they wouldn’t call Solis to the stand in Burke’s trial. Rather, they planned to introduce the recordings he’d made of Burke through the testimony of FBI agents.

So Burke’s legal team summoned him, instead. And defense attorney Joseph Duffy later did his best to make the feds pay for their strategy. He told jurors in closing arguments that a fog of reasonable doubt should hover over every allegation that involved Burke and Solis.

“Why did we have to bring Danny Solis in here?” Duffy demanded. “That should give you pause: The fact that they ran an undercover investigation on Mr. Burke for 30 months — with the star witness being Danny Solis — and they didn’t have the decency to bring him to you.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker countered by telling jurors to “think about what’s the best evidence of defendant Burke’s intent? The words that came out of his mouth. … Those words were captured on recordings. That is why we didn’t need to call Mr. Solis to tell you what Mr. Burke was thinking.”

The jury answered with a resounding verdict, convicting Burke on 13 of 14 counts, including racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion.

That raised questions about whether the feds would employ the same strategy with Solis at Madigan’s trial — until now.

In the Madigan case, prosecutors say Solis introduced Madigan to developers no more than “about five times” before his cooperation began in 2016.

“Solis will explain that he did so in order to garner political support from Madigan,” prosecutors wrote. “Solis will explain that he did not receive money from Madigan for the introductions; Solis did this to keep Madigan politically at bay.”

Investigators had Solis raise with Madigan the possibility of landing a state board seat after Solis retired from the City Council, records show.

“Solis was not seeking an appointment to a state board,” prosecutors wrote. “Madigan, however, based on the recordings and interceptions, responded to Solis’s request as if it were real.”

In fact, the feds say Solis offered to connect Madigan with the developer renovating Chicago’s Old Post Office in exchange for Madigan’s help landing Solis the board seat — and Solis even mentioned Burke along the way.

“I can bring you him, but you know, who’s been, um, actually is Burke has been, I I’ve connected him to him, but he didn’t give him the work for the post office,” Solis said.

Burke was convicted, in part, for trying to use his own seat on the City Council to squeeze business out of the Old Post Office developer.