09032015 - News Article - UPDATE: Soderquists' trial enters second day of testimony

UPDATE: Soderquists' trial enters second day of testimony

NWI Times
September 03, 2015 - 7:00 PM

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/lake-station/update-soderquists-trial-enters-second-day-of-testimony/article_cb94174a-c6f5-56ee-b339-e95ebfc13802.html

HAMMOND | Prosecutors may rest their case against Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist and his wife, Deborah, Friday with closing arguments in the wire fraud trial expected to take place next week. 

Records compiled through the use of casino player cards and annual statements of losses issued to the Soderquists indicate the couple may have lost around $200,000 combined during several hundred trips to the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Mich. between 2007 and 2013. The losses were almost exclusively through slot play.

But their defense attorney, Scott King, said many of the casino records produced in court Thursday were tied only to the cards that were issued to the Soderquists and not directly to the couple. Under cross-examination, an official with the casino acknowledged that the Soderquists could have let other people use the cards. 

Soderquist and his wife, who served as treasurer of his campaign committee and helped oversee the city's food pantry, are on trial in U.S. District Court in Hammond on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, and three counts of false filing. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines on each wire fraud charge.

The government's indictment against the couple alleges between spring 2010 and December 2012, the Soderquists were improperly taking funds from the campaign fund and food pantry fund at the same time they were losing more than $100,000 at region casinos. 

The government contends that in a three-year span, the couple are alleged to have taken $18,500 from the election campaign account before going gambling at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Mich.

King has said government "got it wrong" in regard to charges against the couple, and cash they took from the funds were for reimbursement for earlier expenses they had paid out of their own pockets. He has also reminded the jury that gambling at the casinos is legal.

Thursday morning, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's office presented evidence and testimony detailing how the couple negotiated settlements with credit card companies in 2009 and early 2010 in order to resolve several thousand dollars worth of debt they had incurred. According to credit card records, loss of employment was given as a reason for the couple's inability to pay their full debt. A tax preparer called by prosecutors testified how Soderquist said he was insolvent when she was preparing his 2011 taxes.

Thursday afternoon, Clayton Mason, vice president of database and analytics at Four Winds Casino, went over records on players cards issued to the couple. The amount of money spent by a person using the card, what machines were played, and how long the cards are used are recorded. The information is used in providing player's rewards such as free food, slot play and hotels stays.

Mason said members get two points for every two dollars played on most slot machines. Those accumulating 50,000 points can get a Copper Club Card that allows them access to a special lounge and some other benefits, he said. According to Mason, probably less than 5 percent of those at his casino have obtained the Copper Club status, which the Soderquists had achieved.

Despite credit card problems in 2009 and 2010, statements sent to Keith Soderquist by Four Wnds casino showed him losing $28,882 at that establishment in 2009 and $30,506 in 2010. The statements had Deborah Soderquist losing $15,756 in 2009 and $26,411 n 2010.

The first witness Thursday was James Busch, who was contracted to run the Lake Station composting operation. Busch continued his testimony from Wednesday night in which he talked about meeting with the Soderquists and Third District Councilman Todd Rogers and his wife at Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo. He said he and his girlfriend met with them at the casino more than a dozen times over about a year and a half. After Soderquist's re-election in November 2011, he said the mayor even paid for meals for about 16 people including campaign workers at the casino buffet.