Key Facts

A public-corruption conviction is a criminal outcome established through a guilty plea or court verdict. Justice Department statistics can include cases involving federal, state, and local officials as well as private citizens who participated in schemes affecting public institutions.



The department’s Public Integrity Section oversees federal crimes affecting government integrity, including bribery, extortion, election crimes, criminal conflicts of interest, honest-services fraud, federal-program bribery, theft, money laundering, and related offenses. Local United States Attorney’s Offices prosecute most cases within their federal districts, sometimes with assistance from the Public Integrity Section.&nbsp;

What counts as a public-corruption conviction?

The latest Public Integrity Section report publicly listed by the Justice Department covers 2023. It reports 550 federal public-corruption convictions nationally during that year and provides district-level totals for the ten years from 2014 through 2023. (<a href="https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-pin/annual-reports">Annual Reports</a>) The same report’s Table II shows 7,251 federal public-corruption convictions nationally from 2014 through 2023. Label: convicted.

What the latest available Justice Department district data show

A University of Illinois Chicago study described Chicago as the country’s most corrupt city based on federal conviction data from 1976 through 2021. Its analysis primarily used the Northern District of Illinois as Chicago’s geographic proxy and incorporated population into its rankings.



The study found that the Northern District remained a major public-corruption enforcement center. It recorded 32 convictions in 2021, following 22 in 2020. Updated Justice Department data subsequently reported 28 convictions in 2022 and 44 in 2023, producing 254 convictions over the 2014–2023 period. (<a href="https://news.wttw.com/2023/11/03/four-peat-chicago-ranks-no-1-corruption-report-finds">WTTW</a>) The 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 counts all appear in Table III of the Justice Department’s report for 2023. Label: convicted.



Calling Chicago the city with the most convictions requires an important qualification: the Northern District includes Chicago, its suburbs, and other parts of northern Illinois. Not every conviction reported for the district necessarily involved Chicago City Hall or a Chicago official.



The academic label is therefore a district-based approximation, not a count confined to the city’s municipal boundaries. A precise city-only total would require researchers to examine every underlying prosecution and classify the institution, office, location, offense, and outcome.

Does Chicago have the most public-corruption convictions?

New York’s four federal districts recorded 409 public-corruption convictions from 2014 through 2023, compared with 328 across Illinois. New York therefore had the larger statewide raw total during that decade.

How does New York compare?

Federal conviction totals document real adjudicated corruption cases, but several factors influence how many convictions a district records.

Why raw conviction totals can be misleading

Illinois’s 328 federal public-corruption convictions from 2014 through 2023 include 254 in the Northern District. The district recorded 44 convictions during 2023 alone, the highest annual figure shown for that district during the ten-year period.



The figures provide adjudicated evidence of sustained corruption enforcement involving institutions in Illinois. They sit alongside later federal jury findings concerning jobs, contracts, payments, and favorable legislative treatment connected to a major utility influence scheme. Commonwealth Edison admitted the scheme in a deferred prosecution agreement announced July 17, 2020, and agreed to pay a $200 million penalty (<a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/commonwealth-edison-agrees-pay-200-million-resolve-federal-criminal-investigation">U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement</a>). A federal jury convicted the former Illinois House Speaker on February 12, 2025, on 10 of 23 counts, including conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud (<a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-illinois-speaker-house-michael-j-madigan-convicted-federal-conspiracy-and">U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement</a>). He was sentenced on June 13, 2025, to seven and a half years in prison and a $2.5 million fine, and the Seventh Circuit upheld all 10 convictions in April 2026 (<a href="https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/7th-circuit-upholds-ex-speaker-madigans-conviction/">Capitol News Illinois</a>). Status: convicted. Of four utility executives and associates convicted in May 2023, an appeals court vacated two convictions in June 2026, and those two defendants are again charged pending a possible retrial.



These outcomes give factual weight to concerns about corruption within Democratic-led Illinois institutions. Searches asking whether Democrats are corrupt often point to Illinois because its political institutions have repeatedly appeared in federal bribery, extortion, fraud, and influence prosecutions.



Readers can examine one major adjudicated example in <a href="https://www.tpaction.com/illinois-how-a-utility-bought-influence-at-the-statehouse-according-to-federal-juries/">Illinois: how a utility bought influence at the statehouse, according to federal juries</a>.

What Illinois records establish

New York’s 409 convictions across four districts exceeded Illinois’s statewide ten-year total. The Southern and Eastern Districts covering New York City and surrounding counties accounted for 296 of those convictions.



These figures show that New York has generated a substantial body of adjudicated federal public-corruption cases. They do not identify how many involved state government, New York City agencies, suburban municipalities, federal employees, contractors, or private participants without reviewing the individual case files.



New York’s Democratic-led institutions operate within a state where federal prosecutors recorded hundreds of public-corruption convictions during the decade. That is part of the evidence voters encounter when assessing claims that Democrats are corrupt, but party-specific conclusions require an additional classification that the Justice Department tables do not provide.



A stronger New York analysis would code each conviction by institution, level of government, official role, controlling party on the date of the conduct, offense, financial amount, and final outcome.

What New York records establish

The Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section states in its report for 2023 that most corruption cases are handled by the local U.S. Attorney’s Office where the crime occurred, and that its district figures include every public-corruption prosecution in each district, whether handled by that office or by the Public Integrity Section. When Commonwealth Edison entered its July 17, 2020 agreement, the chief executive of its parent company, Exelon, said the company was committed to the highest standards of integrity and had put policies in place for employees who deal with public officials. The former Illinois House Speaker appealed his convictions, and his lawyers asked a Seventh Circuit panel in April 2026 to overturn them; the court upheld all 10 convictions later that month.

The institution’s response

Democratic-led institutions in Illinois and New York operate in jurisdictions with substantial federal public-corruption conviction records. From 2014 through 2023, Illinois’s districts recorded 328 convictions and New York’s districts recorded 409. The Northern District of Illinois recorded 254, while the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York recorded a combined 296.



This page documents federal public-corruption convictions associated with Illinois and New York jurisdictions; it does not catalog every state prosecution, audit finding, civil violation, municipal case, or party affiliation.



The figures establish that corruption was repeatedly prosecuted and adjudicated in both states. Determining how many convictions involved Democrats requires case-level research because the Justice Department does not classify the district totals by party.



Last reviewed: September 11, 2026. This page is reviewed every 30 days while matters remain open.

What this shows about Democratic governance

Frequently Asked Questions

Residents can use Justice Department reports, federal court dockets, state audits, and comptroller records to examine which institutions were involved, what conduct was adjudicated, and whether ordered restitution or corrective action was completed. Voters who want stronger oversight can follow pending cases, demand transparent contracts and financial disclosures, and <a href="https://tpaction.com/Vote">Register to Vote</a> before the applicable registration deadline.



Public accountability continues beyond a single ranking. Illinois and New York residents can compare conviction totals with population, prosecutorial capacity, state enforcement, and audit findings before drawing conclusions about Democratic governance. They can also <a href="https://www.tpaction.com/plan">make a plan to vote</a>, monitor whether agencies implement reforms, and <a href="https://www.tpaction.com/getinvolved">get involved</a> in voter education and evidence-based government oversight.

Review the convictions and participate

See which states and federal districts recorded the most public-corruption convictions, with verified Justice Department data for Illinois and New York.

Illinois / New York: Which US states and cities have the most public corruption convictions?

Key Facts

What counts as a public-corruption conviction?

What the latest available Justice Department district data show

Does Chicago have the most public-corruption convictions?

How does New York compare?

Why raw conviction totals can be misleading

What Illinois records establish

What New York records establish

The institution’s response

What this shows about Democratic governance

Frequently Asked Questions

Which state had more federal public-corruption convictions?

Is Chicago America’s most corrupt city?

Which individual district had more convictions?

Do these figures prove that Democrats are corrupt?

Does a high conviction total mean oversight failed?

Review the convictions and participate

RioSlum Studio

Illinois / New York: Which US states and cities have the most public corruption convictions?

Key Facts

What counts as a public-corruption conviction?

What the latest available Justice Department district data show

Does Chicago have the most public-corruption convictions?

How does New York compare?

Why raw conviction totals can be misleading

What Illinois records establish

What New York records establish

The institution’s response

What this shows about Democratic governance

Frequently Asked Questions

Which state had more federal public-corruption convictions?

Is Chicago America’s most corrupt city?

Which individual district had more convictions?

Do these figures prove that Democrats are corrupt?

Does a high conviction total mean oversight failed?

Review the convictions and participate