Chicago City Wire

David Krupa, a Republican activist, recently showed his support for the indictment of former Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan.

“It's no surprise ... I think everyone knew Madigan had been doing these things for a long time,” Krupa said. "I'm also pleased to see FBI label his 13th Ward a criminal enterprise. I’ve had my run-ins with them over the years."

Madigan was indicted on March 2 in federal racketeering and bribery charges. 

A release from the Illinois Department of Justice said that “the 22-count indictment accuses Madigan of leading for nearly a decade a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates.”

Madigan is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, as well as individual counts of using interstate facilities to carry out bribery, wire fraud, and attempted extortion. The release notes that in addition to his role as Speaker of the House, Madigan has also held the positions of representative of Illinois’s 22nd District, committeeman for Chicago’s 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization, and partner at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner.

Madigan has denied all the allegations.

Rep. Chris Miller (R-Robinson) also added his opinion about the situation.

“There is corruption on both sides of the political aisle,” Miller said. “We need Democrats and Republicans to get serious about the anti-corruption reforms we need. Until we get serious about real reform, the shadow of Madigan will continue to linger over state government.”

Illinois legislators passed an ethics reform bill last year, which Governor J.B. Pritzker signed in October. The Legislative Inspector General at the time, Carol Pope resigned, saying the bill didn't go far enough in giving her tools to investigate corruption.

Pope told ABC7, "I'm thinking that the legislature knows the limitations of the power of the LIG and that they want it that way. That's why I said I am a paper tiger. There are no real teeth to this legislation the way it is now."

Krupa doesn't think the bill goes far enough either.

"I think anything Springfield writes doesn't go far enough," Krupa said. "I think there should be some effort to change the state constitution to prevent this from happening again."

Illinois has a history of corruption in high places. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached and convicted of multiple corruption charges. He served nearly eight years in prison. Former Gov. George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and served five years in prison. Former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski was  convicted of corruption and served 17 months in prison.