American Telecommunication company, AT&T Illinois has been fined $23 million after admitting to having bribed former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan’s political ally in return for his “vote and influence over a bill”.
AT&T Illinois was reported to have paid one of Madigan’s allies $22,500 in 2017 through a lobbying firm that it worked with.
It was gathered that AT&T staff had made it look as if the money was a payment for a job done by Madigan’s allies.
However, AT&T Illinois was trying to influence a bill that would let it off the hook for providing landline telephone service to everyone in the state.
The bill ended up passing, with the state house and senate voting to override the governor’s veto.
In the latest development, the company after admitting to having paid $22,500 in order to buy a vote from the ex-lawmaker promised to never bribe lawmakers again.
Also, in a Press Statement release from the Department of Justice on Friday, the company is expected to cooperate with the government’s investigation into the alleged misconduct and will have to set up a compliance and ethics program that the government will receive reports on.
If the company keeps up its end of the bargain, the government will dismiss its prosecution.