CHICAGO — If the life and times of Chicago Alderman Daniel Solis a decade ago were pitched as the plot of a daytime soap opera, it might be rejected as too fantastical.

Sexual trysts at massage parlors, procuring erectile dysfunction pills from friends, an affair with his Chinese translator, a bag of cash handed over at a hotel in Beijing, a breakup with his wife, and near financial ruin — all playing out over a period of several years when Solis was chair of the City Council’s powerful Zoning Committee.

Solis’ complicated back story began to emerge Monday in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, where Solis, who agreed to become an FBI mole in 2016 after being confronted with some of the salacious details, is the prosecution’s key witness.

So far, Solis has walked the jury through many of the allegations contained in a bombshell FBI search warrant affidavit that was inadvertently made public in 2019, including Solis’ involvement with a number of Chicago political power players.

Among them: Solis’ sister, Democratic political consultant Patti Solis Doyle, who he said offered to split a $100,000 payment with him from the developer of the Nobu Hotel, who needed Solis’ help with zoning, according to Solis’ testimony.

“She said she could split it with me,” Solis said. “I told her I couldn’t do it. It would be illegal.”

Solis testified he also received $200,000 for referring his sister to another friend, Brian Hynes, who wanted her on board with his company Vendor Assistance Program, which made tens of millions of dollars buying up unpaid bills from the state and then collecting the late fees.

Solis also testified about other friends, such as Juan Gaytan, the influential head of Monterrey Security, showering him with perks like flights and hotels in Las Vegas and tickets to Bulls and Bears games that Solis never declared on any ethics reports.

“I made a mistake,” Solis said when asked why he accepted the favors. “I thought they were my friends and I was wrong.”

Solis, 71, the former 25th Ward alderman, took the witness stand late last week to begin what will be a fascinating dive into one of the biggest public corruption cases in Chicago’s sordid history.

His testimony — which could stretch well into December — will include clandestine video recordings Solis made in face-to-face meetings with Madigan, where the longtime House leader and head of the state Democratic Party allegedly used his official influence to shake down developers for business for his private tax appeal law firm.

When a prosecution witness has a checkered past like Solis, prosecutors frequently ask about the alleged wrongdoing early in their testimony. “Fronting” the information strategically aims to take the sting out of it, rather than let defense attorneys seize on it during cross-examination.

But rarely does a witness come with quite so much baggage.

Solis testified that Roberto Caldero, a college buddy of his who became a lobbyist and consultant, would call Solis for help when his clients had problems with the city’s red tape. At the same time, Caldero connected Solis with free tabs of Viagra and – to the obvious amusement of at least one juror – erotic massages.

“Why didn’t you just get a prescription?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur asked.

“It was more convenient and quicker than contacting my doctor,” Solis said.

“Why was it, do you think, Mr. Caldero was willing to do those things for you?” MacArthur asked.

“He wanted to influence me in his requests,” Solis said.

The back-scratching continued, he said: Solis got a loan from a bank that needed help with expressway signage; his son’s graduation party was hosted and paid for by developer Fred Latsko; he got a six-figure off-the-books loan from a businessman who wanted Solis’s help connecting him with Emanuel.

But the most dramatic revelations came from Solis’s testimony about his time in China.

Solis visited China and Taiwan multiple times from 2005 to 2013, mostly in his capacity as a public official, to understand the 2008 Olympic Games’ effect on Beijing when Chicago was considering its Olympic bid, for example, or to learn about Chinese culture in order to better support Chinatown, Solis said.

Shortly after a trip in 2009, Solis – who was married – began an affair with his translator, Bing Tie. He said Tie introduced him to developer Lumeng Li, who was interested in projects in Chinatown. Tie and Solis accompanied Li on a tour of his properties in different Chinese cities.

At one point, he was in a Shanghai hotel room with Tie and Li. On the bed, Solis saw a briefcase full of Chinese cash, he said. It was $10,000, Solis said based on what Tie told him.

“I think (Li) was giving it to me to influence me in the work he was trying to do in the States,” Solis testified.

Tie took the suitcase off the bed and used the money to buy furniture for the condo Solis was renting from her, he testified.

“She gave me her receipts for everything,” he said.

Solis’s marriage began to fall apart in 2010 after his wife learned of his affair, Solis testified. They were separated for a few years, during which time Solis paid his wife’s rent and his son’s private school tuition as well as his own expenses, Solis testified. The house he and his wife shared had been foreclosed on, putting his credit in the gutter, he said.

By 2013 he was getting calls from bill collectors, one of whom he lied to and said he was out of a job, he testified.

“I was exasperated,” he said. “I think I was about to go into a meeting.”

Madigan, 82, of Chicago, who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House before stepping down in 2021, faces racketeering charges alleging he ran his state and political operations like a criminal enterprise.

He is charged alongside Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd contract lobbyist from downstate Quincy, who for years was one of Madigan’s closest confidants. Both men have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

Solis’ testimony is the culmination of a saga that began nearly eight and a half years ago, when FBI agents confronted him at his home in June 2016 and showed him evidence they’d gathered of his own misdeeds.

The feds had been prepared that day to raid Solis’ City Hall offices. Instead, he flipped, offering what prosecutors have described as “singular” cooperation that helped bring down not only Madigan, but another Chicago political giant in former Alderman Edward M. Burke.

Lawyers for Madigan and McClain, meanwhile, will have plenty of ammunition to bring to what is expected to be a lengthy and grueling cross-examination.

Unlike in last year’s trial of Burke, in which Solis was called as a defense witness, he’ll be subjected to a much broader line of questioning this time around, with the defense probing not only Solis’ unprecedented deferred-prosecution deal, but also episodes from the FBI’s investigation into his own misdeeds that could prove personally embarrassing.

In his opening statement to the jury last month, Madigan attorney Tom Breen painted Solis as a “BS-er” with “a decrepit personal and professional life,” someone who lied to cut a sweetheart deal with the feds that not only will keep him out of prison, but also help him maintain a fat city pension.

Earlier Monday, jurors got their first look at a secretly recorded video of the then-powerful House speaker soliciting business for his law firm from the developer of a Chinatown hotel project.

“We’re not looking for a quick killing here,” Madigan said near the end of the August 2014 meeting, which was recorded on a hidden camera by developer See Wong, who was cooperating with the FBI. “We’re interested in a long term relationship.”

Before the video was played, Solis testified he’d arranged the meeting at Madigan’s request.

At the time, Solis was not cooperating. In fact, the meeting took place nearly two years before the FBI confronted him with evidence of his own wrongdoing, leading to Solis’ decision to go undercover himself.

The charges against Madigan do not allege anything illegal occurred during the 2014 meeting. But a state-owned parcel of land discussed by Madigan and the developers would later become a key focus of prosecutors, who allege Madigan used it as a way to squeeze the developer for business.

In the video, which was taken more than a decade ago, a much younger looking Madigan came into the office carrying a bottle of water and shook Wong’s hand. Also in the room was Vincent “Bud” Getzendanner, Madigan’s law partner. The developer, Kin Chong, who spoke only Chinese, was mainly off screen.

Madigan’s face appeared intermittently as he made small talk about Chicago’s Chinatown and how it compared to others on the West Coast. After a few minutes, Solis came in with two assistants and some coffees. They then got down to brass tacks, with Madigan explaining his firm and what they do.

“We do quite a few hotels and, uh, we have a little different approach to representation on hotels than the other law firms that do the work,” Madigan said. “And, and Bud can explain background, but it does make a difference in terms of the results that you get from the assessor.”

After Madigan’s partner gave a lengthy spiel about the firm’s approach to reducing property taxes, talk turned to a the Chinatown parking lot along the Red Line on Wentworth Avenue.

Solis told the jury he was not expecting the parking lot to come up.

In the recording, Solis jumped in and explained that the parking lot was part of a corridor of land once owned by Tony Rezko — the longtime influence peddler who was convicted of corruption as part of Operation Board Games, the federal investigation that took down Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

“Oh yeah,” Madigan said when Solis brought up Rezko.

After Wong spreads a map on the table, Madigan appeared to study it. “Is this owned by the state?” the speaker asked at one point.

“The parking lot? Yes,” Solis said.

“What, what about that vacant land?” Madigan asked. “This is east of the CTA. This is Clark Street.”

The conversation then turned back to the hotel project, which was a proposed Best Western with about 60 rooms. After a lot of talk about how much Madigan’s firm might save them in taxes, Solis jumped in again.

“There is no better firm than this firm in terms of doing real estate taxes in the state,” Solis said. “I think that’s not only my opinion, it’s across (the board).”

After making his comment about a “quick killing,” Madigan also extolled the virtues of his firm.

“And in terms of the quality of representation in terms of this law firm we don’t take a second seat to anybody,” he said.

As the meeting broke up, Wong said the developer wanted to take a picture with the speaker. The video showed Madigan standing together with the others on the screen of Wong’s cell phone as he took the photo.

After Madigan left, Wong and Solis walked to the elevators of the Madigan & Getzendanner offices on North LaSalle Street. Wong told the alderman that Chong would “love to give the business to Mr. Speaker” but the zoning change was critical.

“If he works with the speaker, he will get anything he needs for that hotel,” Solis said. “And he’s gonna benefit from being with the Speaker.”

Before they parted, Solis told Wong, “I like your shoes.”

After the video concluded, Solis testified that the zoning change requested by the developers passed his committee. But the Best Western ever never built, he said.

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