You be the judge: what federal sentence for prominent elderly state legislator convicted on 10 of 23 corruption counts?

The question in the title of this post is prompted by this lengthy Chicago Tribune article reporting on the results of a lengthy trial and jury deliberation under the headline “No sweep for either side, but Madigan jury’s split verdict still offers ‘historic’ corruption conviction.” Here are a few details with a focus on a few legal particulars:

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan minced no words on the day Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, his longtime political nemesis, was arrested on federal corruption charges in December 2008. “Today’s events are shocking and disappointing,” Madigan, the then-leader of the state Democratic Party, said on that infamous day 16 years ago. “It represents a new low for conduct by public officials.”

At the time, Blagojevich was the latest in a depressing array of governors, state legislators, county commissioners and aldermen accused of selling out the public’s trust for personal gain. On Wednesday, a federal jury added Madigan to that same, sad parade.

In a verdict sure to reverberate across the political landscape, the jury found Madigan, once the most powerful politician in the state, guilty of bribery conspiracy and other corruption charges alleging he used his public office to increase his power, line his own pockets and enrich a small circle of his most loyal associates.

But neither prosecutors nor Madigan could declare total victory. Jurors’ final verdict was overall mixed, deadlocking on several counts — including the marquee racketeering conspiracy charge — and acquitting Madigan on numerous others. Jurors also deadlocked on all six counts related to Madigan’s co-defendant, Michael McClain.

Jury foreman Tim Nessner told the Tribune late Wednesday that the panel was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal on the main racketeering charge as well as several other counts. He also said he felt much of the prosecution was “government overreach.”…

The split verdict does not avert the possibility of a significant sentence for Madigan, who turns 83 in April.  Several of the guilty counts carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.  No date has been set for Madigan’s sentencing.

It was a complicated conclusion to a complicated case, and leaves prosecutors to decide whether to go for a retrial. Speaking to reporters after the verdict, acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said it was too soon to make a decision on how to proceed. “We will obviously closely discuss the developments … and at the appropriate time we’ll make a decision about whether to seek a retrial,” Pasqual said….

Madigan was convicted on 10 of 23 counts, including one count of conspiracy related to a multipronged scheme to accept and solicit bribes from ComEd. Jurors also convicted him on two counts of bribery and one Travel Act violation related to payments funneled to Madigan associates for do-nothing ComEd subcontracts.

Madigan was also convicted on six out of seven counts — including wire fraud and Travel Act violations — regarding a plan to get ex-Ald. Daniel Solis, a key FBI mole who testified at length in the trial, appointed to a state board.

Jurors acquitted Madigan of one bribery count related to that plan. That charge specifically alleged Madigan took steps to find a board seat for Solis through the administration of incoming Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.  One of the last pieces of evidence jurors heard before closing arguments was a stipulation that, if called to testify, Pritzker would say he has no recollection of discussing a Solis appointment with Madigan.

Jurors also acquitted Madigan of a bribery charge alleging he tried to have Juan Ochoa, a onetime political nemesis, put on the ComEd board. In addition, he was found not guilty of one Travel Act violation related to the ComEd scheme. And Madigan was acquitted of all four counts related to an alleged scheme to pressure developers of a West Loop high-rise into giving business to his law firm….

The verdict caps one of the most significant political corruption investigations in Chicago’s sordid history and cements an extraordinary personal fall for Madigan, the longest-serving state legislative leader in the nation’s history who for decades held an iron-tight grip on the House as well as the state Democratic Party.

There are a lot more details about Madigan and this trial in the full Tribune article, and many more details will surely be relevant to the determination of Madigan’s advisory sentencing guideline range and at his eventual sentencing.  But, particulars aside, the foundational question at a forthcoming sentencing would seem to be whether and how much prison time would be fitting for a 83-year-old prominent career politicial convicted of some (but not a majority) of corruption charges.