01312004 - News Article - Auksel: Didn't know about massages - North Township board member responds to stories in the Post-Tribune - ROBERT CANTRELL

Auksel: Didn't know about massages 
North Township board member responds to stories in the Post-Tribune
Post-Tribune (IN)
January 31, 2004
Pete Auksel said he thought North Township taxpayers were paying for a much-needed, good service.

Counseling sessions on services such as drug and alcohol addiction, stress relief and sensitivity training -- mandated by Trustee Greg Cvitkovich -- seemed to be an appropriate perk for the township staff, Auksel said.

Until reading Friday's Post-Tribune, he said, he wasn't aware the sessions included taxpayer-funded massages for employees on taxpayer time. The massages were provided through Addiction and Family Care of Hammond.

Auksel responded Friday to several days' worth of Post-Tribune stories detailing a public corruption investigation hovering over the trustee's operations.

Calling from his Highland home, he took issue with calls made to his wife, staying at their St. Petersburg, Fla., home.

"You make it sound like we're separated -- we're not," he said.

He said political adversaries have made an issue of his residency for years, particularly since he has an Indiana driver's license and Florida ID card.

The property, he said, is an investment he made seven years ago, though he admits he spends more time there -- now that he's retired -- than he did when he first purchased it.

His wife, Carol, said he had been there with her, but that he left in December.

Auksel said Friday he's been back "oh, for five or six months now."

Told of his wife's statement, he said, "Well, we're almost to February. I guess it hasn't been quite that long."

He came back Dec. 5, he said, to care for his ailing mother and tend to personal issues, but never, he claimed, has he turned his back on voters in Whiting, Hammond, East Chicago, Munster and Highland.

Auksel acknowledged his wife told him about Post-Tribune calls to Florida, seeking comment from him, but denied he received one in Highland.

Records show three Pete Auksels in Highland and, he said, calls made by the Post-Tribune weren't to him, so he couldn't respond to them.

"No one can ever say I wasn't available," he said.

"I'm available for township matters. I've never missed one meeting because I was out of town."

Challenged on that, based upon board minutes and claims made by other board members, Auksel admitted, "I have missed meetings, but they were due to other circumstances and not because I was in Florida.

"Besides, the other two can make it," he said, referring to Cvitkovich and township board attorney Anthony DeBonis.

Auksel is the sole remaining board member loyal to Cvitkovich and Mayor Robert Pastrick's political machine.

For more than a year, township board members Frank Mrvan Jr. and Richard Novak have expressed concerns about the counseling services contract and other township expenses.

While records show township board members are paid more than $21,000, Auksel said, "We're only obligated to meet four times a year. The only other time we meet is when something comes up."

One of those reasons, he said, will be this latest controversy, involving investigators assigned to the public corruption task force led by U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen.

The task force appears to be focusing on township employee and political player Robert Cantrell, also linked to Addiction and Family Care.

01302004 - News Article - Three bid to treat ill county inmates - LAKE COUNTY: Current provider at jail asks for most money for medical services - ROBERT CANTRELL

Three bid to treat ill county inmates
LAKE COUNTY: Current provider at jail asks for most money for medical services
NWI Times
Jan 30, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/three-bid-to-treat-ill-county-inmates/article_61bd4232-b90a-5322-bfed-409266aa4df2.html
CROWN POINT -- Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said this week he is prepared to recommend who should receive a lucrative contract to provide health care services to county jail inmates.

Edgewater Systems for Balanced Living in Gary bid about $1.43 million, Prison Health Services, of Nashville, Tenn., bid just under $1.69 million and Southlake Center for Mental Health in Merrillville bid just over $1.69 million to serve the jail for a year.

Southlake, which has tended to inmates' medical needs for more than two decades, received $1.6 million last year.

Dominguez said the accounting firm of KPMG and a group of advisers, including Lake County Clerk Thomas Philpot, will review the bids and give county commissioners their recommendation in two to four weeks.

Michael Higgins, county police spokesman, said the county jail holds about 850 inmates on an average day. Many need the care of a doctor or dentist during the weeks or months they are incarcerated while awaiting trial.

Health care in the county jail has been a public issue since 1974, when a diabetic inmate, Randy Jensen, was denied his insulin until he began to slip into a coma.

Jensen and other inmates sued the county and a federal judge took control of the jail and mandated improvements, including a 57-bed medical facility inside the jail that cost county taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

The court installed Southlake Center for Mental Health in 1982 to ensure inmates continued to have ready access to medical care. Southlake has continued as the provider even after the federal court returned control of the jail to the sheriff and commissioners in 1997.

County commissioners considered putting the health care contract up for bid in 2002. Robert Cantrell, former East Chicago Republican chairman and political adviser to many leading Democratic figures, lobbied at that time to earmark part of the contract for drug counseling by Addiction and Family Care, a service owned by Nancy Fromm.

Fromm currently provides substance abuse counseling for inmates in the sheriff's work-release center, a minimum security facility in Crown Point. Her firm also treats hundreds of drunken drivers referred by state and municipal judges.

Although Fromm expressed interested in the county jail contract last year, she didn't bid on it, the sheriff said.

Edgewater, formerly known as the Gary Community Mental Health Center, also offers medical services for many offenders referred by the courts. Prison Health Services currently has contracts with more than 400 correctional facilities around the country.

01302004 - News Article - 'Stress relief' adding to woes - Therapist says she has provided massages to North Twp. workers - ROBERT CANTRELL

'Stress relief' adding to woes 
Therapist says she has provided massages to North Twp. workers
Post-Tribune (IN)
January 30, 2004
North Township Trustee Greg Cvitkovich told the Post-Tribune on Wednesday he knows nothing about his employees getting massages on taxpayer time.

On Thursday, the Post-Tribune found the company providing the massages, which the owner said she has done for more than a year.

Taxpayers in Whiting, Hammond, East Chicago, Munster and Highland have paid thousands of dollars for contracted massages, while paying even more to keep township employees on the clock while receiving those massages.

Pam Saladin, owner of Griffith-based Concepts In Massage, said she has been giving therapeutic massages for more than a year to township employees at the Hammond offices of Addiction and Family Care.

That company, owned by Nancy Fromm, has long been linked to East Chicago political player Robert Cantrell and is coming under the cloud of a public corruption investigation.

Cantrell, father of Lake Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell, also is employed by the township, though many township employees say they don't know what he does at the office.

Saladin said she was approached in 2002 by one of Fromm's employees and asked about providing onsite, therapeutic massages to clients of Addiction and Family Care.

"We provide massage therapy to get the aches and pains out for the township staff," Saladin said.

"We go there every Wednesday and Thursday for a couple of hours to give massages."

Cvitkovich on Wednesday denied employees are getting massages on taxpayer time.

He did not return a call seeking comment on Thursday.

Township records show last year taxpayers paid more than $30,000 to Addiction and Family Care, with an unknown part of that paid to Saladin's firm.

Saladin said she's not on contract to the North Township Trustee or Fromm, but provides the scheduled services and is paid out of Fromm's accounts.

She wasn't aware of the federal investigation and said she doesn't know Cantrell.

"Unless we've worked on him there, I don't know, as part of the township, like we do for everybody else there," she said.

"But I have no clue who he is. I don't get involved in politics."

Township employees have said they are required to attend mandatory sessions at Fromm's agency, spending four hours there on taxpayer time.

If they don't go, they claim, their pay is docked and the township is billed anyway for their appointment.

Cvitkovich denied that Wednesday, but admitted he does require employees to go to Fromm's agency for "sensitivity training" to help them deal with the township's indigent clients.

He also acknowledged that he handed that contract to Fromm without seeking public bids.

Township board members Frank Mrvan Jr. and Richard Novak said Cvitkovich and his attorney, Anthony DeBonis, told them state law grants all contracting authority -- no matter the amount -- to Cvitkovich.

The third township board member is Pete Auksel. In a call to the Auksel home in St. Petersburg, Fla., his wife denied he's living there with her. He could not be reached for comment at his Highland home.

Sources said after two days of Post-Tribune stories detailing the federal investigation spreading into the trustee's office operations, Cvitkovich and Cantrell were seen huddled in an office talking Thursday.

Cvitkovich denied he's involved in any illegal doings and defended the employment of Cantrell, who makes $37,000 as an "inter-agency liaison."

Sources also said some township employees have been asked to sign a petition saying they see Cantrell working in the township office every day, though many are hesitating.

At least two township clients have told the Lake County Election Board that Cantrell used his position to pay them to enter East Chicago political races.

Still others say Cantrell uses the township's indigent clients to pad city voting rolls.

Last year, hundreds of fraudulent absentee votes were found to have been cast in the East Chicago mayor's race.

Many were cast by those fitting the indigent profile.

While a four-month state investigation produced just two indictments so far, U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen last week announced he was taking the lead role in a partnership with state investigators.

Investigators have been known to be focusing not only on activities in East Chicago, but also in Schererville, where the town judge's race was also infiltrated by fraudulent votes.

While Cantrell votes in East Chicago, he has stated on county, state and federal forms that he lives in Schererville.

01292004 - News Article - Fed corruption probe widens - FRAUD INVESTIGATION: GOP leader- turned Democrat reported to be subject of state and federal probe - ROBERT CANTRELL

Fed corruption probe widens
FRAUD INVESTIGATION: GOP leader- turned Democrat reported to be subject of state and federal probe
NWI Times
Jan 29, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/fed-corruption-probe-widens/article_6fa8b954-f9b3-5381-ba09-6bbffe1de037.html
A special task force investigating vote fraud in East Chicago and Schererville stretched into North Township this week, a move sources said puts increasing pressure on two high-profile political operatives.

Indiana State Police Lt. Mark Day, part of a special task force investigating vote fraud in East Chicago and Schererville, confirmed visiting North Township trustee offices this week to interview employees.

Sources said the questions they were asked appeared to be weaving a tighter web around former East Chicago GOP Chairman Robert Cantrell, who is on the North Township payroll, and former Schererville Judge Deborah Riga through a Hammond-based counseling agency. The agency is run by a woman who, with Cantrell, had a hand in getting Riga and others elected.

Fraud allegations surfaced shortly after the last votes were counted in the May 6 primary that handed slim victories to Riga and East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick. Recounts uncovered evidence of absentee votes cast from empty lots or vacant homes by people living outside the city or who received improper assistance from campaign workers.

Superior Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura heard enough evidence in the Schererville case to reverse the result, declaring challenger Kenneth Anderson the winner.

In this newest twist of the probe, North Township employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, said state police investigators asked them what Cantrell did at the township office and what his job description was. The words "ghost-payrolling" and "business partnerships" were mentioned, they said.

Other questions centered around the mandate North Township trustee employees have been under to attend routine counseling at the Hammond-based Addiction and Family Care clinic operated by Nancy Fromm.

Fromm said Cantrell is paid to bring business to the clinic. Cantrell did not return a call for comment.

Fromm ran the political campaign of Cantrell's daughter, Lake Superior Judge Julie Cantrell, and reportedly had a hand in helping to elect Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and worked on Riga's campaign. People going through Riga's Schererville court almost always used Fromm's service, according to the man who replaced her, Kenneth Anderson.

"I know for a fact that Cantrell has gotten a target letter," said one source commenting on condition of anonymity, adding that federal and state agents are leaning on Township Trustee Gregory Cvitkovich for information on ghost-payroll issues and contract steering.

Cvitkovich confirmed state police spoke with two employees in the Hammond office and others in the East Chicago office. He said neither he nor his office has been given a target letter.

No subpoenas were handed out, Cvitkovich said. He said he believes disgruntled employees are making an issue about the counseling agency to blacken his reputation.

Cvitkovich said he was advised by his attorney to offer drug and alcohol awareness and sensitivity training in the event an employee gets into a confrontation with a client and is sued.

"When you try to do the right thing you get crucified," he said.

Frank Mrvan, a newly elected North Township Board member, said eliminating the contract was the No. 1 issue for him from his first meeting.

"The employees didn't want to go, and it is a waste of taxpayers' money. It is a waste of township relief money that could have been used to help the poor," Mrvan said.

Mrvan sent a letter Tuesday to the Indiana attorney general seeking an opinion on whether the board has legal grounds to accept or reject any township contract in excess of $25,000.

About Cantrell, Cvitkovich said he "hopes an investigation gets to the bottom of this."

"Bobby Cantrell is an extremely high-profile individual," Cvitkovich said. "I am not going to employ somebody who intentionally breaks the law. He has a Ph.D. He is a highly intelligent person, and he keeps peace in my East Chicago office."

A source said Cantrell is rarely in the office.

A Lake County grand jury last March looked into allegations of ghost employment. At the time, Cvitkovich said time cards were subpoenaed involving Cantrell. The probe involved allegations Cantrell had recruited a couple of felons to run in the East Chicago clerk's race on public time.

Mrvan said Cantrell's job title as "inter-agency liaison" reportedly pays $38,000 per year.

Louis Karubas, a retired supervisor of the North Township trustee's office, remembered a day four years ago when Cvitkovich told him Cantrell was going to be a field investigator -- a position typically overseen by Karubas. He recalled hearing this introduction: "Listen, Cantrell is here. And he's a brilliant man. And you better know that."

01292004 - News Article - Investigations scorecard - ROBERT CANTRELL

Investigations scorecard
NWI Times
Jan 29, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/investigations-scorecard/article_83b6e5bf-3cd6-524b-9afa-91f50d8cfff9.html
INDICTED
Jan. 22: Otho Lyles III, president of the Gary Sanitary District Board, president of Gary/Chicago International Airport Board and demolition inspector for the Gary Redevelopment Department, with lying to the FBI about his relationship with politically connected Gary businessman Jewel Harris Sr. and their influence over demolition and debris-hauling contracts.

Jan. 22: Carl Paul Ihle Jr., co-owner with Kevin Pastrick of Sand Creek Sales, with forging documents and lying to mislead a U.S. Labor racketeering department investigation into bribery of Gerry Nannenga, a carpenter's union official, to invest $10 million in Coffee Creek, a Porter County land development.

Sept. 4: Peter Manous, former Indiana Democratic chairman, and Kevin Pastrick, son of East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick, with paying $45,000 in kickbacks to Nannenga.

Sept. 4: East Chicago City Engineer Pedro Porras, East Chicago Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr., East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas, East Chicago City Councilman Adrian Santos, East Chicago City Councilman Joe De La Cruz and East Chicago city controller Edwardo Maldonado with conspiring to win votes in the 1999 primary election by spending $20 million in city money to improve private property with new sidewalks and driveways, to trim and remove trees.

CONVICTED
* Gerry Nannenga, an official of the Northwest Indiana District Council of Carpenters, for accepting $45,000 in kickbacks in 1998 from Kevin Pastrick, son of East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick, and Peter Manous, former Indiana Democratic chairman, to invest $10 million in Coffee Creek land deal in Portage.

* Peter Benjamin, former Lake County auditor and assessor, for paying $4,000 in bribes to Lake County Councilman Troy Montgomery to be hired in 1998 and receiving more than $260,000 in law fees.

* Troy Montgomery, for accepting Benjamin's bribe

* Katie Hall, Gary city clerk, for extorting more than $19,000 in campaign contributions and personal gifts from office employees from 1989 until her resignation in 2003.

* Junifer Hall, chief deputy Gary city clerk and daughter of Katie Hall, for extorting contributions for her mother.

RECORDS SEIZED
December 2003: Federal investigators demand records connected to Gary Mayor Scott King and two political lieutenants, Otho Lyles III and Jewel Harris Sr., and their dealings with the Gary School District and the Gary Redevelopment Department.

November 2003: Federal investigators seized North Township property records for former Carpetland building on Calumet Avenue in Munster.

October 2003: Federal investigators subpoena 23 properties in North Township, which all were represented by Tax Assessment Professionals, the now-defunct corporation once owned by Peter Benjamin.

May 2003: A federal grand jury demands North Township records linked to allegations of fraudulent property tax refunds.

March 2003: A Lake County grand jury subpoenas time card records from the North Township Trustee's office for Robert Cantrell, accused of doing political campaigning on public time.

01292004 - News Article - North Township trustee defends 'sensitivity training' expenses - Taxpayers paid out $30,000 for required employee training, counseling sessions - ROBERT CANTRELL

North Township trustee defends 'sensitivity training' expenses 
Taxpayers paid out $30,000 for required employee training, counseling sessions
Post-Tribune (IN)
January 29, 2004
Taxpayers across Lake County have paid for public employees to receive mandatory back massages and talk about their problems -- all while they were on taxpayer time.

That's according to North Township employees who have been concerned for years about services provided to North Township employees by Addiction and Family Care.

The Hammond-based agency, publicly headed by Nancy Fromm, but long linked to political player Robert Cantrell, is among those targeted by a public corruption investigation being headed by U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen.

This week, public task force investigators focused efforts on the North Township Trustee's office, interviewing employees and requesting records.

While Trustee Greg Cvit-kovich and Cantrell, one of his highest-paid employees, were not there when investigators visited the trustee's Hammond and East Chicago offices, Cvitkovich told the Post-Tribune on Wednesday he would be more than happy to help public corruption investigators.

He doesn't think they'll find any corruption linked to him.

Cvitkovich admits he requires employees to attend mandatory sessions with Fromm's agency, on taxpayer time. He says he does it for their own good and, to his knowledge, the sessions don't involved massages, as some allege.

"They're supposed to go to ... uh ... sensitivity training seminars and drug and alcohol awareness education programs," Cvitkovich said. "It's required because my employees are in highly stressful jobs and deal with numerous clients.

"Some employees don't like going, but those are the ones who need to go the most."

Township board president Frank Mrvan Jr. said the counseling contract with Fromm represents "a slap in the face to taxpayers" that is simply "a waste of employee time."

"He hasn't listened to employees who've said that or when we said it as a board," Mrvan said. "Maybe U.S. Attorney Van Bokkelen will now get his attention."

Mrvan said last year the township paid $30,000 for employee counseling services -- four-hour sessions employees said they must attend or have their pay docked.

"The trustee and his attorney said that contract, and any contract, doesn't have to come before us for approval," board member Richard Novak said.

"They said the state gave him the authority to do whatever he wants to do. We've questioned that, but they said according to law, that's what they can do."

Township attorney Anthony DeBonis declined comment.

Pete Auksel, the third board member, could not be reached at his Highland and Florida homes.

But Mrvan said the criminal investigation at the trustee's office is driving him to call for "a special, emergency board meeting to again stress the board's demand that the trustee eliminate this contract."

Addiction and Family Care is on contract and has relationships with other Lake County agencies, including the sheriff's department, and several city, town and county courts.

Fromm did not return a call seeking comment.

Cvitkovich, upset about a Tuesday Post-Tribune story detailing the inquiry into his office, said he nor his employees are dodging investigators.

He denied rumors that his staff had somehow denied investigators records or otherwise impeded the investigation.

"No, if they had asked for anything they would have received it," Cvitkovich said. "They were told to go upstairs, where our records are kept, and see my secretary. She said they'd need to put it in writing.

"But she was wrong to even say that, because it's public."

Cvitkovich also defended the work product of Cantrell, his $37,000 "inter-agency liaison."

Some township employees said in testimony during the East Chicago mayoral recount they don't know what Cantrell does at the township office, except report to Cvitkovich.

Others said Cantrell uses the job to run East Chicago political operations, including paying township clients to enter political races.

He declined to elaborate further about Cantrell's job but blamed questions about his role on disgruntled employees.

Cvitkovich added Van Bokkelen's investigators won't find anything amiss or illegal in his township office operations.

"I'm not aware of anybody breaking the law here," he said. "If you or anybody else is, I wish you'd bring it to my attention because I'd put a stop to it immediately."

01292004 - News Article - Politically connected counselors in spotlight - ELECTION INVESTIGATION: Counseling service has lucrative contracts - ROBERT CANTRELL

Politically connected counselors in spotlight
ELECTION INVESTIGATION: Counseling service has lucrative contracts
NWI Times
Jan 29, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/politically-connected-counselors-in-spotlight/article_cb4c48ed-03c5-5371-bb11-89673a89ec0c.html
HAMMOND -- North Township trustee office employees gathered Wednesday at the Briar East strip mall to hear about the virtues of diversity in the workplace.

It was one of the mandated visits to the Addiction and Family Care, which some township employees claim degenerate into pointless games, mood music and massages intended to make them sensitive, caring public servants -- all on the public's dime.

The value of these training sessions isn't lost on Robert Cantrell, who is paid to bring these and hundreds of others through the doors of the counseling service owned by Nancy Fromm.

Cantrell is a former East Chicago Republican chairman, a political adviser to many Democratic Party figures and the apparent focus of a joint state and federal investigation into public corruption and vote fraud.

Together Cantrell and Fromm have massaged enough local government entities to create a flourishing market for the counseling service.

The services' centers in Hammond and Merrillville calm stressed-out government employees and offer advice to substance abusers incarcerated the Lake County work release center in Crown Point and drunken drivers referred by Lake Superior Court and municipal judges around the county.

Former Schererville Town Judge Deborah Riga; Hammond City Judge Jeffrey Harkin; County Sheriff Roy "Rogelio" Dominguez; Lake Superior Court Division Julie Cantrell, Robert Cantrell's daughter; and Lake Station City Judge Kristina Kantar, a former employee of Julie Cantrell, have all steered business to Fromm.

Fromm was briefly in the running to obtain a lucrative contract to provide counseling to Lake County Jail inmates, but the sheriff said Wednesday she has dropped out of that bidding.

Dominguez and county commissioners awarded her an $84,000 contract last year to counsel inmates in the sheriff's work-release center.

"She works with compassion and does a good job for us," the sheriff said.

Even Fromm's critics say she provides excellent services in the field of substance abuse.

Although Indiana State Police investigators questioned North Township employees about Cantrell and Fromm, it's business as usual for Fromm. She said no investigators have visited her.

Fromm said she's troubled by the reports the agency has been drawn into the investigatory limelight.

"I don't want people to think this agency has done something wrong."

Cantrell "brought in business," she said. He was paid for each person referred to the agency and for the amount of money each respective counseling services contract brought in.

"I just wrote out his W-2," Fromm said, declining to cite the amount.

Cantrell did not return a call seeking comment.

Fromm is a licensed clinical social worker and a master's level drug and alcohol counselor.

She also is the daughter of political sophisticates from Hammond, John and Donnabelle Mahoney. She assisted in campaign efforts to elect Thomas McDermott Jr. as mayor of Hammond, along with Robert Cantrell. She also had aligned herself with Riga, who lost her job following an absentee voting fraud investigation.

01282004 - News Article - North Township trustee target of probe - Agents gather records, conduct interviews as part of corruption investigation - ROBERT CANTRELL

North Township trustee target of probe 
Agents gather records, conduct interviews as part of corruption investigation
Post-Tribune (IN)
January 28, 2004
Just days after announcing a joint federal and state initiative to root out public corruption in Lake County, investigators appear to have a target.

Agents hit the North Township trustee offices on Monday and Tuesday, conducting interviews and taking records.

Sources said the agents -- from the FBI and Indiana State Police -- were looking for Trustee Greg Cvitkovich and employee Robert Cantrell.

Neither of them was in when investigators hit the East Chicago and Hammond offices.

Sources said questions focus on contracts the office has with Addiction and Family Care, the Hammond-based counseling agency publicly headed by Nancy Fromm, but long tied to Cantrell.

Cvitkovich did not return repeated phone calls, nor did the township attorney, Anthony DeBonis.

Cantrell could not be reached at the East Chicago home he votes from, nor at the Schererville home where -- he has stated on state forms -- he lives.

At a news conference last week, U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen said a four-month state investigation into voter fraud and official misconduct was beginning to point toward people who are subjects of current federal investigations.

That state investigation, led by Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter and Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, was centered on absentee voter fraud that infiltrated both the East Chicago and Schererville primaries, but was beginning to turn toward operations and contracts within the Schererville Town Court.

Several people with ties to Schererville or its court operations and contracts have been subpoenaed to appear twice before the state grand jury, then were sent home when the grand jury didn't meet.

Then last week, Van Bokkelen announced he was partnering with the Carters to investigate many of the cases.

He specifically mentioned people and issues in East Chicago and Schererville were of interest to federal agents.

Cantrell, one of the highest paid employees on Cvitkovich's staff at $37,000, works as an "inter-agency liaison" at the trustee's East Chicago office.

Testimony given through a recount hearing revealed many employees don't know what Cantrell does in the office, except to report to Cvitkovich.

But others say Cantrell simply uses the office to make political maneuvers and to maintain relationships with poor, indigent residents of Hammond and East Chicago.

Recount testimony showed many of those caught in last year's East Chicago voter fraud scandal fit the indigent profile, as they were paid paltry sums to cast fraudulent votes.

Cantrell also was linked last year to paying indigent clients to enter East Chicago races.

Cantrell is the father of Lake Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell and lawyer John Cantrell, former law partner to Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr.

Cantrell, longtime head of the East Chicago Republican Party, was ousted last year after newly installed county chairman John Curley said Cantrell was a Democrat in disguise. Curley said this situation weakened the Republican party so as to strengthen the city Democratic party, headed by Mayor Robert Pastrick.

Cvitkovich, meanwhile, also has been a loyal Pastrick ally.

He attended the mayor's $1,000 fund-raiser at Arlington Park race track last year and regularly donates to Pastrick.

Like Cantrell, he was implicated in the voter fraud scandal and shown to be a key conduit to fraudulent Pastrick votes.

In the recount case, he and Cantrell proudly said elections in East Chicago are like a celebration day for the poor, as there are many ways for them to make money.

01232004 - News Article - HAMMOND: Otho Lyles III lied to federal agents, indictment says - ROBERT CANTRELL

HAMMOND: Otho Lyles III lied to federal agents, indictment says
NWI Times
Jan 23, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/hammond-otho-lyles-iii-lied-to-federal-agents-indictment-says/article_509f6680-952c-5824-a3ae-3e17e89829c8.html
HAMMOND -- Former Republican party chairman Otho Lyles III was charged Thursday with lying to federal agents in connection with the U.S. Attorney's investigation of political kingpin Jewell Harris Sr.

Lyles, 51, owns Northlake Construction of Gary and is president of both the city's Sanitary District Board and Gary/Chicago International Airport Board.

On Thursday, he sat stiffly before U.S. Magistrate Andrew Rodovich, who advised him of a potential five-year prison term and a fine of $250,000 if he is convicted of making false statements to the FBI and the IRS about the following:

* Harris' involvement awarding or recommending any contracts by the city of Gary, or its departments, or in influencing or determining any business contracts.

* Lyles' own involvement with Harris to receive business or contracts with the city of Gary.

Rodovich ordered Lyles to turn over his passport. He released Lyles on a $20,000 bond and sent the case to federal court in South Bend for Lyles' arraignment.

The one-count indictment charges Lyles denied ever having talked with Harris about business contracts, when in fact Lyles had "frequent conversations with Jewel Harris" involving hauling and demolition contracts that would benefit Harris' trucking company, Enterprise Trucking, and would benefit Lyles' own business contracts with Gary's Redevelopment Department.

Lyles has served as demolition inspector for the city's redevelopment department and demolition manager for the school city's demolition projects.

In December, federal agents blanketed the city with subpoenas for records from city hall, the school district, the sanitary district and the businesses owned by Harris and Lyles.

The Public Integrity Task Force, directed by First Assistant U.S. Attorney David Capp, also issued search warrants and conducted interviews.

Weeks ago, Lyles acknowledged agents took demolition and excavation records from his company and the sanitary district dating back to 1998, but said he was certain he was not a target of the probe. He said he was not worried, because he had nothing to hide and was honest with federal agents.

"If they find one minute thing (or something you overlooked) it can hurt you," Lyles said several weeks ago. He added that his records were impeccable, as all of his contracts were approved in a public arena.

Lyles had no comment Thursday.

Numerous sources said they found it curious that Lyles would deny ever having spoken with Harris.

"The average citizen who walks down the street knows about the theory you can't do business in Gary unless you go through Harris," said one source.

Another surmised that Lyles' charge is being used as a way to reach others suspected of government corruption.

"They're squeezing him," he said.

Harris, who served as a state representative in the mid-1970s, was the architect of King's 1995 mayoral victory. Campaign manager for the mayor ever since, Harris also is a managing partner of the Gary Steelheads basketball team, which he and King helped bring to Gary's Genesis Center in a deal that cost the city millions.

Harris also operates Enterprise Trucking and Waste Hauling Inc., which has done close to $2 million annually in demolition work for the city the last three years. In May 2003, Harris landed a disposal contract despite the fact his $28.50 per ton bid was nearly twice that of another low bidder, Nelvin Reagins. Harris' firm also was paid more than $1.5 million in hauling and disposal fees over a five-week period in 2002.

Political insiders noted that Lyles' contracts and appointments to boards perhaps were because of the political clout he wielded while serving as the Republican party chairman in Gary, a power similar to that once held by former East Chicago GOP Chairman Robert Cantrell.

01232004 - News Article - Combined effort to target corruption, vote fraud - VOTE FRAUD: Federal, state and local officials to delve into East Chicago, Schererville elections - ROBERT CANTRELL

Combined effort to target corruption, vote fraud
VOTE FRAUD: Federal, state and local officials to delve into East Chicago, Schererville elections
NWI Times
Jan 23, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/combined-effort-to-target-corruption-vote-fraud/article_8dca3c90-6fcb-5f1e-ba0e-4ace16346397.html
Independent investigations of public corruption and vote fraud in Lake County have found such target-rich environments that federal, state and local law enforcement officials have agreed to work together.

"There are vast opportunities for prosecutorial work here," Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter said Thursday at a news conference in Lowell.

Carter, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter and U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen described how they will coordinate the gathering of evidence in East Chicago and Schererville in a spirit of cooperation Van Bokkelen said is unprecedented in a four-decade-long career.

Van Bokkelen said the FBI, state police and a federal grand jury already sitting in Hammond will examine whether East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick won the 2003 spring primary through a conspiracy to break election laws.

No one would discuss the identities of the potential targets or the nature of the evidence investigators are gathering, but sources have said investigators are looking at employees of East Chicago, the county elections board or campaign workers.

The attorney general and county prosecutor, who have been investigating East Chicago the last five months, will put their efforts on hold while federal prosecutors take over.

Van Bokkelen said he initially declined to become involved in the voting scandal, but changed his mind after talks between him and the county prosecutor's office convinced him the state was targeting many of the same witnesses needed in a broader federal investigation of public corruption called Operation Restore Integrity.

"Our office asked the Department of Justice to give us permission to determine whether or not we had jurisdiction in the East Chicago absentee ballot investigation," he said. "We needed agreement from Attorney General Carter and Prosecutor Carter to step aside temporarily while we do our investigation. They both graciously agreed with the understanding that if we do not establish jurisdiction the matter would be returned to them promptly so they can proceed."

Van Bokkelen said he agreed to help the 13-member task force of deputy state attorneys general and Lake County prosecutors and state police with their other investigation into vote fraud in last year's primary involving the Schererville town judge race.

Allegations of fraud surfaced shortly after the last votes were counted in the May 6 Democratic primary that handed razor-thin victories to East Chicago Mayor Pastrick and Schererville Town Judge Deborah Riga. Both needed a wave of questionable absentee ballots to win.

Their political opponents demanded recounts, which uncovered evidence of votes cast from empty lots or vacant homes, by people living outside the city or who received improper assistance from campaign workers.

Special Lake Superior Court Judge Steven King issued a 104-page opinion last summer that Pastrick's victory was a "textbook example of chicanery." Superior Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura heard enough evidence in the Schererville case to reverse the results of the Schererville primary, declaring challenger Kenneth Anderson the winner.

Van Bokkelen said: "There is nothing that goes more to the heart of a democracy than the fairness of an election. The special task force raised some significant issues as did Judge King's opinion and Judge Bonaventura's opinion as to whether or not these elections were conducted in a fair manner. That is why I'm interested. It's an obligation we have."

"The citizens of Lake County deserve honest government," Steve Carter said. "Honest government begins with honest elections."

Van Bokkelen issued a warning that lying to investigators or a grand jury will not be tolerated.

"The message today is if you lie, you will be prosecuted," he said. "If what we end up doing all this year is prosecuting people for that, we will be more than happy to do that," Van Bokkelen said.

01212004 - News Article - Feds stalk vote fraud bounty - VOTE FRAUD: Justice Department officials want to cage those who led efforts - ROBERT CANTRELL

Feds stalk vote fraud bounty
VOTE FRAUD: Justice Department officials want to cage those who led efforts
NWI Times
Jan 21, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/feds-stalk-vote-fraud-bounty/article_c342c6fe-4b9a-5d89-b211-4bb62aa62774.html
HAMMOND -- U.S. Justice Department investigators see Lake County's vote fraud scandal as a big game hunt.

A source close to the U.S. Attorney's office said the federal government is targeting those who directed wholesale vote buying, intimidation or fraud to steal elections in East Chicago and Schererville.

Federal authorities said they suspect a conspiracy took place among East Chicago city officials, County Board of Elections and Registration officials and campaign employees of Mayor Robert Pastrick to coordinate the fraudulent casting of hundreds of absentee ballots in the May 6 Democratic primary. They believe a similar, but smaller, racket took place in Schererville.

Sources within the federal government said the U.S. Attorney's office is under pressure to take over an investigation in Crown Point by a special county grand jury that was at best spinning its wheels and at worst leaking evidence to those under suspicion.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen is expected to announce as early as this week that he is not conducting a hostile takeover, but rather a merger with Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter and Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, who were running the special grand jury in Crown Point.

Ned Ruff, an attorney for East Chicago City Councilman George Pabey, D-at large, said Friday their team of private investigators found a surplus of evidence, which was detailed last summer in Special Lake Superior Court Judge Steven King's 104-page opinion on that city's 2003 Democratic primary.

Pabey lost to East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick by 278 votes. Pabey contested that result. King heard three weeks of evidence from witnesses collected by Pabey's lawyers, and threw out 155 absentee ballots, leaving Pastrick with a 123-vote majority.

Ruff said they will continue to argue this March before the Indiana Supreme Court that all absentee ballots cast in Pastrick's name should have been thrown out because of what Ruff calls, "a pattern of fraudulent behavior."

"These were not isolated incidents," he said. "It covered the city. It happened to a lot of different people. It was centrally directed fraud in which the poor, young and naive were targeted.

An organized effort
The names of those who reportedly did the targeting were repeated over and over last summer by witnesses.

Ruff said there wasn't any evidence linking Pastrick to the illegal activity.

King's opinion named North Township Trustee Gregory Cvitkovich and Robert Cantrell, former East Chicago Republican chairman, but not as participants in vote fraud.

Rather, King quotes Cvitkovich and Cantrell as saying candidates (like Pastrick) hire hundreds of unofficial poll workers in the expectation they will cast absentee ballots in the name of their paymaster candidate.

Ruff said there was a large amount of evidence that East Chicago's parks department swelled before last year's primary with employees hired not to promote recreation but Pastrick's re-election.

"Park Superintendent Joe Valdez's name came up over and over," Ruff said. We were told park employees were ordered to vote by absentee ballot, because there was a fear they would get drunk on election day and not get to the polls."

Valdez is awaiting trial this summer on charges he and five other East Chicago political figures illegally spent $20 million on sidewalk and other concrete work on private property to curry favor with voters before the 1999 Democratic primary election. He is pleading innocent in that case.

Others named by King as prime players in the East Chicago mayor election include:
* Andrew Callas, who directed Pastrick's campaign, including the collection and photocopying of more than 1,000 absentee ballot applications at Pastrick campaign headquarters before they were sent on to the election board.

* Lake County Councilman Joel Markovich, a precinct committeeman and Pastrick supporter, who admitted hiring 40 people to work at the polls.

* East Chicago Precinct Committeeman Ramon Guillen, who recruited, collected and delivered absentee ballot applications by the dozens, many of them in identical handwriting even though applications are supposed to be filled out only by the voters themselves.

* Alan "Twig" Simmons, a city employee, who was present, according to King, when Lisa Bailey and her mother, Stella Bailey, filled out their ballots. She said Simmons promised to help the two women get jobs and that he would fix Bailey's car.

* Alfred "Bit-a-man" Rodgers, a Pastrick supporter and unsuccessful candidate for City Council, who allegedly promised to pay for an absentee ballot.

* Milan Kesic, who manages a temporary employment service and a Pastrick operative, who obtained 90 absentee ballot applications from his employees and could have had more.

More absentee questions
Allegations in Schererville center on the absentee ballots cast for Schererville Town Judge Deborah Riga and the activities of Bob "Bosko" Grkinich, a Schererville businessman and Democratic committeeman of Schererville's heavily Serbian 10th Precinct.

Riga won the primary by 11 votes, but her nomination was reversed last year by a recount judge who declared challenger Kenneth Anderson the winner after disqualifying 23 absentee ballots in Riga's name.

At the hearing, Anderson's lawyers alleged Grkinich was involved in the illegal possession of absentee ballots and the illegal assistance of absentee voters. Grkinich refused to answer questions about his role in alleged vote fraud on grounds it might incriminate him.

There is no solid indication yet who federal authorities are targeting within the county elections board, but Ruff said Pabey's team believed someone on that staff was helping's Pastrick's campaign.

Ruff said he believes the elections board delayed by several hours reporting their count of nearly 2,000 absentee ballots cast in the East Chicago mayoral primary.

Michael McPhillips, assistant director of the elections department, said the elections board staff from both major parties counted about 7,500 absentee ballots cast throughout the county in the spring of 2003. He said absentee vote totals weren't held back.

01192004 - News Article - Another formidable resource in fighting public corruption - The issue: The FBI - ROBERT CANTRELL

Another formidable resource in fighting public corruption
The issue: The FBI
Jan 19, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/another-formidable-resource-in-fighting-public-corruption/article_2e7ce36c-9ce4-56d9-8dd4-c367bcc07ea0.html
Our opinion: With elections this year, a federal investigation of voter fraud will put crooked politicians on notice that this hanky-panky is a bad idea.

Added muscle is about to be flexed to investigate allegations of systematic vote-buying and potential collusion of election officials in last year's primary elections in East Chicago and Schererville.

The FBI has joined the hunt. The bureau and the U.S. Attorney's office join Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, the Indiana State Police and Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter on the trail of likely shenanigans in the primary elections.

This is welcome news. The more investigative skills applied to the task of weeding out public corruption here, the better.

Much work has already been done, but the involvement of the FBI, with its formidable resources and power, could quicken the pace.

A special grant jury jointly conducted by the two Carters has spent months investigating the allegations. So far, the only indictments have been of an elderly Hobart Township couple, on allegations they illegally cast absentee ballots for incumbent East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick even though they live outside East Chicago.

Then there is the framework assembled during two recount trials, in the Democratic primary races for the nomination for East Chicago mayor and for Schererville town judge.

Special Lake Superior Court Judge Steven King last summer issued a 104-page opinion in the recount trial for the East Chicago Democratic primary. He called incumbent Mayor Robert Pastrick's victory a "textbook example of chicanery," but determined that Pastrick had enough votes to win even after 155 votes were tossed.

In the other recount case, Lake Superior Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura issued a 45-page ruling chastising Robert Grkinich, campaign worker for incumbent Judge Deborah Riga, for "illegal, deliberate actions" to either forge or fabricate 23 absentee ballots.

Riga, like Pastrick, was named the winner only after absentee ballots were counted. In the recount trial, Bonaventura named Riga challenger Kenneth Anderson the winner after tossing the 23 ballots.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen convinced the U.S. Justice Department in Washington to get the FBI involved. Give him credit for that move.

Attorney General Carter, a Republican, moved swiftly to join the probe when Prosecutor Carter, a Democrat, sought his help. It is truly unique and welcome that a bipartisan investigation is taking place to right any wrongs.

A side benefit will be that with federal, state and county races on the ballot this year, a federal investigation of voter fraud will put crooked politicians on notice that this hanky-panky is a bad idea.

01062004 - News Article - All new staff at Town Court - Schererville judge names new workers; old operations under scrutiny - ROBERT CANTRELL

All new staff at Town Court
Schererville judge names new workers; old operations under scrutiny
NWI Times,
Jan 6, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/all-new-staff-at-town-court/article_93f581e0-4e2f-541b-9dd3-d352e530d2af.html
SCHERERVILLE -- A completely new staff of employees will be on hand when the Schererville Town Court reopens in March, Judge Kenneth Anderson has announced.

A grand jury is expected to begin hearings Thursday regarding operation of the Schererville Town Court during the tenure of former Judge Deborah Riga.

Investigators seized computer equipment Friday from the court, saying they needed to review the equipment as part of a full and in-depth audit of the court operations from 1999 through 2003.

The investigation is part of a special task force, including the Lake County prosecutor's office and the Indiana attorney general's office, along with the Indiana State Board of Accounts and the Indiana State Police.

The court will be closed until March. Anderson said he has been told to change the procedures and operations of the court.

Anderson, who was on hand last week when the computers were removed, said Monday that he is cooperating fully with the investigation.

Meanwhile, Anderson has hired a handful of people to work in Town Court. He did not retain any of the people who worked in the previous court.

The new court administrator is Leone Erwin, the lone full-time employee. He also hired Tom Anderson, a well known precinct committeeman, and Jim Lentini, who worked on his campaign, as bailiffs.

Though court is closed, Anderson said they will work to change the administrative and financial procedures of the court as recommended by the special task force.

"We intend to notify the cases that are pending that they will be continued until March," he said. "We're doing a lot of perfunctory things, changing the procedures in the court and we'll visit some 'model' courts that the Indiana State Board of Accounts and the attorney general's office recommended during this time."

01032004 - News Article - Probe shuts down town court - Investigators confiscate computers; new judge asked to revamp procedures - ROBERT CANTRELL

Probe shuts down town court
Investigators confiscate computers; new judge asked to revamp procedures
NWI Times
Jan 3, 2004
nwitimes.com/news/local/probe-shuts-down-town-court/article_b2662c48-ef8e-5d92-b129-e1431668bb73.html
SCHERERVILLE -- As a grand jury continues its investigation into public corruption in Lake County, it has asked the Indiana State Board of Accounts to investigate the Schererville Town Court operations during the time Deborah Riga was judge from 1999 to 2003.

As a result, the state has asked that new town court Judge Kenneth Anderson delay operation of the court for 60 days, signaling the first time a court has been closed.

Anderson, sworn-in Thursday, spent Friday overseeing the removal of seven computers from the court office in response to a subpoena served on him in the morning.

"This came as a surprise to me," he said, adding he got a call from Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter asking him to be present at a meeting on New Year's Eve.

"They didn't inform me what they were looking for, but they said there were significant reasons for them to remove computers and have the State Board of Accounts come in for a substantial audit," Anderson said.

The special task force is composed of representatives from the Lake County Prosecutor's office and the Indiana Attorney General's office and is working closely with the Indiana State Police and the Indiana State Board of Accounts.

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter said a complete audit and thorough investigation of the town court is appropriate.

"The charge of the grand jury obviously includes voter fraud issues. We think it's important to have a thorough and complete audit of operations but at this time, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to be more specific."

Although Carter didn't name anyone in particular, he said the investigation will focus on the administration of the court.

"I can't say who may or may not be targets. I am not confirming that anyone is a target," he said.

"Judge Anderson has agreed to assist with the investigation as far as allowing the task force and the State Board of Accounts access to information with regards to the proceedings during that four-year period," Carter said.

"We appreciate the judge's cooperation. It's an extraordinary step to shut down a court for a significant period of time, but it is essential for the criminal justice process to work in Lake County and that's why it's being done," Carter said.

Riga could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, Anderson said letters will go out to people with pending cases before the town court moving them to March or April. He said new cases also will be set for that time. However, he said court staff would be available to accept the payment of tickets.

Anderson said officials also told him they want him to revamp the court's procedures and accounting procedures.

"The attorney general's office and the State Board of Accounts gave me the names of other courts that they consider to be models," Anderson said. "I will be talking to them. My staff will go to visit them and review their procedures. We will reopen in March modeled after these courts."

Anderson named two of the models as the Lowell Town Court with Judge Thomas Vanes and the Hobart City Court with Judge Bill Longer.

A statement released Friday regarding the investigation also said the physical site of the court would be closely monitored and every effort would be made to protect the interests of the town while the investigation was under way.

Schererville Town Manager Richard Krame said he does not know a lot about the investigation.

"I understand there is a lot behind this but I haven't really been told what it is," he said.

This continuing investigation of the Schererville Town Court is the most recent in a series of legal issues involving the office.

During the May primary, Riga won re-election by 11 votes, but her nomination was reversed by a recount judge who disqualified 23 absentee ballots following charges of voter fraud. The judge declared Anderson the winner.

The grand jury already has heard testimony from dozens of Schererville residents regarding the town judge race and will likely hear more as the investigation continues.

Before that, the Indiana State Board of Accounts conducted a routine audit of the town court's financial books for the years 2000 and 2001, turning up what Riga called then a minor problem.

According to the report, eight traffic tickets had been reclassified from state infractions to Schererville infractions, allowing the town court to keep the money for the town. The State Board of Accounts ordered the court to repay $950 for the eight tickets resolving the issue.

01012004 - News Article - Corruption alive, well in Northwest Indiana

Corruption alive, well in Northwest Indiana

Post-Tribune (IN)
January 1, 2004

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=10084CFD274F1DD9&p_docnum=118&p_queryname=1

A wave of indictments and investigations rocked political foundations across Northwest Indiana in 2003. 

U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen proved his talk of a commitment to cleaning up public corruption wasn't just lip service -- indictments have turned into convictions and convictions have turned into testimony in other cases. 

The year started with the high-profile federal trial of Gary City Clerk Katie Hall and her daughter, Chief Deputy Clerk Junifer Hall. 

They were accused of demanding cash from their low-paid employees, firing them if they refused, while also operating a ghost-payrolling scheme with the clerk's other daughter, Jacqueline Hall. 

Though the Halls went into the trial denying all allegations, after three weeks of prosecution testimony, most of it coming from those employees, the Halls pleaded guilty to a mail fraud charge relating to the ghost-payrolling scheme. 

Both agreed to immediately resign and in August, Katie Hall was sentenced to six months' house arrest. She continues to teach a government class for the Gary Community School Corp., however, while wearing an electronic monitor. 

Junifer Hall was sentenced to 16 months in prison, a term she began serving in October. Assigned to the women's work camp in Pekin, Ill., she could be released in November. 

In the months following the Hall trial, federal agents continued to serve subpoenas on several public offices and hauled several public officials before a grand jury. 

All the while, former Lake County Auditor Peter Benjamin and former Lake County Councilman Troy Montgomery were talking to federal agents about what they knew about other public corruption cases. 

Indicted in 2002 for a scheme where Benjamin bribed Montgomery in 1998 to ensure a lucrative contact went to his law firm, Benjamin was sentenced to 51 months in prison, while Montgomery was sentenced to 10 months. 

Benjamin was to report in January 2004, but after angering a judge with motions about getting improper legal advice, Benjamin was sent to a prison in Fort Dix, N.J., in November. 

Montgomery will head to prison in February. 

But the biggest indictments to hit Lake County came in August and all nine had some ties to the well-known political machine in East Chicago. 

Six city officials -- City Councilmen Adrian Santos, Joe DeLaCruz and Frank Kollintzas, city controller Eddie Maldonado, engineer Pedro Porras and park director Joe Valdez -- were indicted for their roles in spending more than $20 million in public funds to pave private driveways, patios and basketball courts. 

The 1999 work was done, prosecutors said, to ensure votes for Mayor Robert Pastrick and his supportive council members. 

Two contractors involved -- Gregory Gill and Dimitrios Sazalis -- already have pleaded guilty and will provide testimony against the "Sidewalk Six." 

All are set to be tried together this summer. 

On the same day, Van Bokkelen indicted Pastrick's son, Kevin Pastrick, along with former Indiana Democratic Party chairman Peter Manous and union leader Gerry Nannenga. 

They were charged with funneling union pension funds to themselves, via fraudulent investments in a land deal. Nannenga has pleaded guilty and will testify against Pastrick and Manous . 

More public corruption indictments are expected in 2004, with investigations already under way in Gary, the Lake County government and still more in East Chicago. 

Caption: Chicago attorney Thomas Durkin (left), with former Gary city Clerk Katie Hall (middle) and her daughter Junifer, (right) former deputy clerk, walk into U.S. District Court in Hammond on June 16. Daughter Jacqueline walks behind her mother and Durkin. Katie Hall will get probation while Junifer Hall will serve 16 months in a federal prison.(PHOTO) (LESLIE ADKINS/POST-TRIBUNE) Peter Benjamin (left), his mother Nellie Benjamin and attorney J. Michael Katz exit a South Bend courthouse in August.(PHOTO) (LISA SCHREIBER/POST-TRIBUNE) East Chicago City Council President Frank Kollintzas (left) exits the United States Courthouse with his attorney after being arraigned on wire fraud and lying charges in September.(PHOTO) (CHRISTOPHER SMITH/POST -TRIBUNE)