Former Sen. Annazette Collins Indicted
Former State Senator turned lobbyist Annazette Collins faces federal tax charges connected to the Commonwealth Edison legislative bribery scheme.
A former State Senator for the west side of Chicago who became a lobbyist is facing federal tax charges in connection to her alleged role in the Commonwealth Edison bribery scheme.
Sen. Annazette Collins was defeated in the 2012 primary by now-Sen. Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago) and became a lobbyist when she left office.
The Sun-Times has more:
Annazette Collins, 58, has been charged with two counts of filing a false individual income tax return, two counts of failing to file a corporate income tax return and one count of failing to file an individual income tax return.
Reached Wednesday by the Chicago Sun-Times, Collins declined to comment.
The indictment alleges Collins filed false tax returns for 2014 and 2015, when she claimed her income was $11,533 and $10,154, respectively. She allegedly failed to file an individual tax return for 2016 and allegedly failed to file corporate tax returns for 2015 and 2016 on behalf of her consulting and lobbying firm, Kourtnie Nicole Corp.
Collins lost the Democratic primary in 2012, and records show she worked as a lobbyist for ComEd from 2014 until 2019. In 2020, federal prosecutors accused ComEd of a years-long Chicago-style bribery scheme. It allegedly sent $1.3 million in indirect payments to associates of then-House Speaker Michael Madigan for doing little or no work for the utility, all while ComEd hoped to land Madigan’s support for legislation in Springfield worth more than $150 million.
Madigan has not been charged with a crime, and he denies wrongdoing.
Also charged in a related bribery indictment last November were Madigan confidant Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, onetime ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and ex-City Club President Jay Doherty.
Court records filed Wednesday in connection with Collins’ indictment listed a grand jury number matching the one in other records related to the ComEd investigation.
Collins served 10 years in the House before being appointed to the Senate in 2011.
