Panel clarifies court probe
Commission issued a 'caution' to judge while dismissing a complaint
Post-Tribune (IN)
December 29, 2006
A state ethics commission cautioned Lake Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell for improperly using money from driving school fees to give her staff $20,700 in salary bonuses.
Breaking with the panel's usual practices, a spokeswoman for the Commission on Judicial Qualifications issued a public statement about an investigation into Cantrell's office, a response to statements by Cantrell last month that said the commission "dismissed" complaints against her.
"Short of filing charges (the commission) can express a private caution. (A caution) is an expression of the commission's finding that the complaint was not unfounded or groundless," said Meg Babcock, counsel for the commission. "Typically that is a private communication. Because Judge Cantrell stated publicly the complaint was dismissed, I determined it was appropriate to speak publicly to correct the impression made by her public statement," Babcock said.
Cantrell referred questions to her attorney, Terry Smith, who said a letter from the commission said the case was "dismissed with caution."
"The case was dismissed. Dismissed means dismissed," Smith said. "They said don't pay bonuses with (money from the driving school) even though she got authority from the (Lake County) Council ... They said, if you do it again, just let us know about it."
Cantrell said in November she had received a letter from the commission and "they said they had looked into it, and they had dismissed the complaint."
A 2003 audit report showed that Cantrell had used funds from driving school fees collected from traffic court defendants to fund $900 bonuses paid to 23 employees, Babcock said.
Cantrell's Superior Court colleague, Judge Jesse Villalpando, filed a wide-ranging complaint against her, including a claim she was overcharging students in her driving school and diverting the excess funds to other uses. After Cantrell made statements to the press about the outcome of the ethics investigation, Villalpando sent a letter to Babcock.
A longtime rival of Cantrell's father, political fixer Robert Cantrell, Villalpando said issues with the driving school became apparent to him after Robert Cantrell threatened to back candidates against Villalpando to use a politically connected firm for defendants in his courtroom.
Villalpando said it was his duty to report possible ethical lapses by Cantrell or any of his peers.
"Her father was trying by coercion to force me to do some of the same things that he was getting, without complaint, in her court," he said.
Traffic court defendants can be assigned to take driving school courses instead of having an infraction put on their record. Judge Cantrell said last month she had put her driving programs "on hiatus" because of bad publicity.
Federal investigators also have reviewed Cantrell's driving school records. Cantrell has said the federal investigation "didn't find anything wrong, either." David Capp, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen, would not comment on whether the Justice Department was investigating Cantrell.
Fromm's would-be business partner backs out
EAST CHICAGO: E.C. native denies having any plans to take over counseling business
NWI Times
Dec 22, 2006
The day after news broke that politically connected addiction counselor Nancy Fromm was handing over the reins of her faltering business to a friend, that friend said he was shocked by the announcement.
"I am not taking over her business. I have not made any arrangements to take over her business," said Richard Mamula, an East Chicago native who lives in California. "Her entire statement is salacious."
Mamula said Fromm has contacted him in the past about possibly taking over the business, but he never agreed to anything.
In a two-sentence letter to Lake County Commissioners Wednesday, Fromm wrote that Mamula was taking over Addiction and Family Care.
Fromm has been indicted on charges of obstructing a grand jury that is investigating a "pay-to-play" scheme involving kickbacks from contractors to government officials.
In the past, her business has enjoyed lucrative contracts with local courts. However, Lake County commissioners recently postponed a request to renew Fromm's contract with Lake County Community Corrections.
Fromm has said her firm's business has suffered as a result of the indictment, and she hoped new leadership could help restore its reputation. But her deal with Mamula was not in writing before she told the commissioners and news media about it.
Fromm said she was troubled Thursday upon learning of Mamula's statements that he will not take over the business.
Fromm to step down as leader of firm
NANCY FROMM -- She says her federal indictment has made it too difficult to run the firm
NWI Times
Dec 21, 2006
nwitimes.com/news/local/fromm-to-step-down-as-leader-of-firm/article_3e19d5f9-8652-5ae8-ac08-5dc3e922823e.html
Nancy Fromm said she's letting someone else take the reins of the counseling firm she has built during the past 10 years because her federal indictment is making it difficult for the company to operate.
Fromm's politically connected company, Addiction and Family Care, did not receive a contract extension from Lake County Community Corrections on Wednesday. The contract is expected to come up again for discussion next month.
By that time, Fromm said, the firm is expected to have a new leader -- Richard Mamula, a retired psychologist who lives in California.
"I've really hurt the company with all this publicity and politics, and I want it to keep going," Fromm said Wednesday. "I do love the business. It's not for the money. I love being a therapist."
Fromm said she believed county commissioners were "in a bind" because they had cancelled the contract of indicted tax collector Roosevelt Powell while Fromm's contract was allowed to go on.
Fromm said her firm has fallen on hard times since she was accused of obstructing a federal grand jury by not turning over information sought by investigators. She said she has gone from 15 employees to eight since the indictment.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen said Fromm's company was part of a "pay to play" scheme in which kickbacks were paid by government vendors to municipal, township and county officials. The rest of the scheme has not been disclosed.
Fromm has publicly acknowledged paying political operative Bob Cantrell a consulting fee for using his contacts in local judicial circles to get judges to send drug-addicted offenders to Fromm's firm for counseling.
Cantrell has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Another judge levels allegations against Robert Cantrell
EAST CHICAGO: Political operative denies trying to influence court to hire friend's firm
NWI Times
Dec 21, 2006
nwitimes.com/news/local/another-judge-levels-allegations-against-robert-cantrell/article_27804ff0-4b1d-5d51-a809-0acaa3d3d9da.html
EAST CHICAGO | Political operative Robert Cantrell is denying allegations from a second judge that he tried to cajole the court into hiring a counseling firm that was paying Cantrell fees.
In a sworn deposition, East Chicago Judge Sonya Morris said Cantrell threatened to run a challenger against her during the 2003 election unless she agreed to send all of her drug-addicted criminal defendants to treatment at a firm owned by a friend of Cantrell's.
The firm, Addiction and Family Care, is paid to treat clients for court-ordered addiction counseling. At the time, Cantrell was receiving a finder's fee from the firm for each person he could convince judges to refer to them.
Morris said in 2003, she received a message that Cantrell was threatening to put former city judge Eduardo Fontanez in the race against her unless she agreed to make Addiction and Family Care the court's sole counseling provider.
"If she got a message from somewhere, it wasn't coming from me. That's a fact," Cantrell said Wednesday. "I don't have to send messages. I'm a grown man. I can talk to people."
Morris stands by the allegations in her sworn testimony, said Jon Schmoll, a legal adviser for Morris who also works for the East Chicago court.
Nancy Fromm, owner of Addiction and Family Care, said she was not aware of whether Cantrell had made political threats against Morris.
"(Morris) didn't say that to me, and I didn't know (Cantrell) did it," Fromm said. "He didn't tell me if he did that."
Like many courts in Lake County, East Chicago's city court today includes Addiction and Family Care as one of several counseling providers on a list from which defendants can choose, Fromm said.
The firm no longer pays Cantrell for referrals, Fromm said.
Morris' comments echo accusations from Lake Superior Court Judge Jesse Villalpando, who said Cantrell tried to convince him to hire Addiction and Family Care for his court.
Fontanez, who did not return a call for comment Wednesday, ran against Villalpando this year and lost. Villalpando has said Fontanez was put into the race by Cantrell because of the judge's flat refusal to refer business to Addiction and Family Care.
Morris' comments about Cantrell became public as part of an unrelated civil lawsuit for wrongful termination that Cantrell's son, John, filed against Morris after she fired John Cantrell from the city court.
John Cantrell filed suit in U.S. District Court in Hammond saying Morris fired him for political retribution and hired one of her own campaign workers to replace him shortly after her election.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Rodovich declined to dismiss John Cantrell's case Friday, saying there was enough evidence for a jury to decide whether John Cantrell was the victim of political retribution.
Will vote fraud acquittal affect future cases?
VOTE FRAUD: 41 cases still pending, prosecutors say one loss doesn't change a thing
NWI Times
Dec 18, 2006
nwitimes.com/news/local/will-vote-fraud-acquittal-affect-future-cases/article_c2a361a5-a868-5df1-a6e3-4782300b7ba3.html
CROWN POINT | At least one attorney representing a client charged with vote fraud is taking his chances on a jury trial after Robert "Bosko" Grkinich's acquittal last week.
East Chicago Police Officer Lester Chandler is charged with two counts of voting in a precinct in which he didn't reside.
Defense Attorney John Cantrell said it's "make it or break it" for Chandler because he loses his law-enforcement job if he's convicted of a felony.
Schererville Democratic Precinct Committeeman Grkinich successfully fought off 20 counts of vote fraud when a jury of six found him not guilty on all counts Dec. 8.
So far, the Joint Vote Fraud Task Force of Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter and County Prosecutor Bernard Carter has leveled charges against 52 Lake County citizens. The task force spent the last couple of years looking into the 2003 Democratic Primary, in which the election results for two races were overturned: the Schererville Town Judge and East Chicago Mayoral races.
Eleven have been convicted to date.
Only Grkinich won an acquittal, despite what looked like a strong case against him.
Cantrell said the Grkinich verdict could be an indication of how many in Lake County feel about vote fraud.
"I do think the Grkinich case was a test case to see voters' opinions on whether minor, innocent, technical violations of Indiana voting laws should cause someone to be convicted of a felony and subject to prison," Cantrell said.
One of Grkinich's lawyers, Thomas Mullins, disagrees.
"I think the verdict was specific to my client and is not political," Mullins said. "Jurors found the state didn't prove it's case beyond a reasonable doubt."
The Indiana Attorney General said jurors indicated otherwise.
One juror told prosecutors the not guilty verdict was designed to "send a message to the legislators that the voting laws were too complicated," Steve Carter said.
Bernard Carter said the Grkinich verdict was a clear case of jury nullification -- a jury not wanting to convict a defendant despite evidence of guilt.
"We presented uncontroverted evidence. They had to convict him on some of the handling of the ballot charges. But they refused," Bernard Carter said. "They may have thought the law wasn't fair or was too harsh."
The Lake County Prosecutor said defense attorneys may feel the Grkinich verdict gives them a stronger position in plea negotiations, but Carter argued it doesn't.
"The electoral process is the basis of our freedom, and not to protect that system and that process hurts us all," he said.
Both Carters said the task force is still investigating, and more indictments are forthcoming.
Cantrell agrees that voting is important, but charging people with things like voting in a different precinct than the one in which they live isn't helping.
