"The investigation of AT&T Illinois is being resolved with a deferred prosecution agreement under which the company admitted it arranged for payments to be made to an ally of Madigan to influence and reward Madigan's efforts to assist AT&T Illinois with respect to legislation sought by the company," the announcement said.AT&T "made no effort to ensure any work was performed" in exchange for the payment, the Justice Department said, adding that AT&T acknowledged that the payment was made "in exchange for Madigan's vote and influence over a bill."Although the members of the conspiracy formulated a pretextual assignment for Madigan's ally to disguise why the ally was being paid, the ally performed no actual work for AT&T Illinois and had no role in advancing the legislation," the Justice Department said.AT&T pushed bill to end landline obligationAT&T's payment was designed to influence a 2017 vote on Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) legislation that "terminate[d] AT&T Illinois' costly obligation to provide landline telephone services to all Illinois residents," the deferred prosecution agreement says.Under the agreement with AT&T, "the government will defer prosecution on the charge for two years and then seek to dismiss it if AT&T Illinois abides by certain conditions, including continuing to cooperate with any investigation related to the misconduct alleged in the information," the Justice Department said, continuing:In addition to the monetary penalty and its continued cooperation with the government, AT&T Illinois's obligations under the agreement include implementing a new compliance and ethics program and providing annual reports to the government regarding remediation and implementation of the program."