Nearly four months after they were first called to Chicago’s federal courthouse, jurors have begun deliberating in the most consequential Illinois public corruption case in years: the racketeering case of former House Speaker Michael Madigan and his longtime confidant,

Michael Madigan’s defense team rested Thursday, nearly three months after opening statements and testimony began in the landmark case. Here is what you need to know about the case.

It was a well-known aphorism during former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s record 36 years in power that while others in the state’s political realm were merely playing checkers, the