Lake County has a storied history
Post-Tribune (IN)
May 18, 2002
Lake County has a storied history of elected officials being convicted on various charges involving public corruption.
The major cases are:
* 1961 -- Following a U.S. Senate investigation into organized crime's link to public corruption, Lake County Prosecutor Metro Holovachka was sentenced to three years for evading income taxes.
* 1963: Gary Mayor George Chacharis fell victim to the same investigation and got three years for tax evasion.
* Early 1970s: East Chicago Mayor John Nicosia was convicted for his role in a city sewer construction scandal.
* Early 1980s: The period marked the Operation Bar-Tab investigation in the fixing of drunken driving tickets.
The probe led to a host of convictions, including County Division Judges Orval Anderson and Steven Bielak and county Clerk Edward Lukawski.
* 1985: When former County Commissioner and Sheriff Rudy Bartolomei pleaded guilty to racketeering, he said there were kickbacks involved in 85 percent of all contracts handled by county commissioners.
Bartolomei turned government witness and entered the federal witness protection program. His testimony brought down several officials.
* 1993: Gary City Councilman Clemmons Allen was sentenced to 18 months for providing protection to bar owners in exchange for the purchase of fund-raising tickets.
* 1998: Gary City Councilman Gerald Hayes was convicted for taking kickbacks on landfill contracts.
* 2002: Lake Station Councilwoman Roseann Johnson will be sentenced next month for misuse of public funds.
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