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

Corruption alive, well in Northwest Indiana

Post-Tribune (IN)
January 1, 2004

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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)