What to know about US Attorney John Lausch Jr., the Joliet native who announced Madigan’s indictment

Editor’s note: A version of this story ran on Dec. 3, 2017. It has been updated to reflect the indictment of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

JOLIET – U.S. Attorney John Lausch Jr. went from a linebacker on Joliet Catholic Academy’s 1987 championship football team to standing at a lectern Wednesday in Chicago announcing federal charges against Michael Madigan, one of the most powerful politicians in Illinois history.

Madigan, 79, was charged in a 22-count indictment with racketeering conspiracy, using interstate facilities in aid of bribery, wire fraud and attempted extortion.

The 106-page indictment alleges Madigan used not just his role as speaker, but various positions of power to further his alleged criminal enterprise, including his chairmanship of the Illinois Democratic Party. It also accuses Madigan of reaping the benefits of private legal work illegally steered to his law firm, including from firms with matters before the state or the city of Chicago.

“Unfortunately, this type of criminal conduct drastically undermines the public’s confidence in our government. Simply put, it’s not a good thing,” Lausch said during a Wednesday news conference. “As I’ve said before, we have a very stubborn public corruption problem here in Illinois, rooting out and prosecuting public corruption has been and will always be a top priority of this office.”

Lausch is a Joliet native who grew up in Joliet’s Cathedral area. In 2017, former President Donald Trump nominated Lausch as U.S. attorney of the Northern District of Illinois.

He replaced Zachary Fardon who had held the post for more than three years before the Justice Department asked him and other U.S. attorneys to resign.

Lausch, who studied law at Northwestern, has not lost touch with his roots in Joliet over the years.

“I think he’s very proud to be a Hilltopper,” Jeff Budz, principal at Joliet Catholic Academy, said in a 2017 interview

“There are probably seven or eight of us who have stayed friends,” former teammate Mike Kelley of Joliet said.

He’s the son of Barb Lausch, who taught at the old St. Joseph’s Catholic School, and Jack Lausch, a retired Joliet firefighter who made extra money as a repairman for Sears. They raised five children.

Becoming U.S. attorney is a serious matter. Some of Lausch’s longtime associates from Joliet were visited by FBI agents in the background check that preceded his taking office.

Sue Bebar, director of alumni relations for JCA, recounted an amusing moment while being interviewed by an FBI agent who asked if Lausch’s friends were people of good standing. Seeing a chance to interject some humor, Bebar said, “Well, I don’t know about that.”

The agent’s face remained expressionless.

“He said, ‘That’s not funny,’ " Bebar said.

Bebar and others in 2017 described Lausch as a regular guy, hardworking, intelligent, moral and driven.

“He’s all the things you expect for the position,” Kelley said. “For people who know John, this is really not a surprise.”

Lausch was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Chicago office from 1999 to 2010, trying more than 20 jury cases involving racketeering, fraud, narcotics, extortion and firearms offenses, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. He was deputy chief in the narcotics and gangs section from 2005 to 2010, overseeing prosecutions involving street gangs, fraud schemes and corrupt public officials.

Barb and Jack sometimes went to see their son try cases, and once a lawyer from the opposing side approached them to make a comment about John.

“He said, ‘We don’t like to be in court with him because we never win,’ " Barb said. “We said we’re seeing a different person because he’s really a soft, kind person. He was doing his job.”

Lausch often was doing a job while going to high school and later at Harvard University, where he was captain of the football team. He had a janitorial job at the Cathedral of St. Raymond, where he went to grade school, and later worked at the Thomas Steel plant in Lemont during summer breaks. At Harvard, he worked for the athletic department.

One job that didn’t work out, Barb said, was a short-lived stint as a vacuum cleaner salesman.

“He came home after the second day and said, ‘I will do anything, but I won’t do this,’ " Barb said. “It was about two days later that he got the phone call from the refinery. So it worked out.”

Kelley said one of Lausch’s strongest characteristics is his willingness to work.

“Even in high school, he outworked everybody,” Kelley said. “That’s how he became successful.”

Lausch left the U.S. attorney’s office to go into private practice in Chicago.

Barb said he wanted to broaden his experience as a lawyer but always wanted someday to go back to the U.S. attorney’s office. He wanted to be U.S. attorney.

“I serve at the pleasure of the president, like every other US attorney, and I’m honored to do so,” Lausch said Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed