DOJ: Don't Let Former AT&T Illinois President Off the Hook
DOJ urged a federal court not to acquit former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza. Last month, La Schiazza asked the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois to toss bribery and racketeering charges against him after a trial ended in…
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a hung jury (see 2409300022). “In his effort to satisfy his nearly insurmountable burden, defendant ignores, mischaracterizes, and unfairly slants the abundant incriminating evidence that would easily allow a reasonable jury to conclude that the government established the essential elements of each charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt,” DOJ wrote Monday in case 22-CR-520. It added that the court may not independently weigh trial evidence and decide the government failed to meet its burden. “The law requires the Court to view the totality of the trial evidence in the light most favorable to the government, not the defendant, draw all reasonable inferences in the government’s favor, and grant his motion only if it finds the record was so devoid of evidence that a reasonable jury could not have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” To show a violation of the Travel Act, the government need not “prove a corrupt state of mind, much less prove the completion of the underlying bribery offense,” DOJ added. La Schiazza was accused two years ago of authorizing monthly payments totaling $22,500 to a close ally of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D). Madigan then pushed through legislation that La Schiazza backed, making it easier for AT&T to terminate its costly carrier of last resort obligation. That obligation required the company to continue providing landline services to Illinois residents, according to an indictment.