BREAKING: Jury: Soderquists guilty on all counts
NWI Times
September 11, 2015 - 11:00 PM
HAMMOND | A U.S. District Court jury found Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist and his wife guilty of improperly using funds from his campaign and the city's food pantry.
Jurors deliberated for about five hours late Friday before finding Keith Soderquist and Deborah Soderquist guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, seven counts of wire fraud and three counts of false filing. The couple, sandwiched by their attorneys, did not say anything.
Defense attorney Scott King said he was disappointed in the verdicts and he plans to file a motion for a new trial.
He said there were things that happened during the trial that he has never seen before in his career. He said the motion will address several issues but did not detail the problems.
About a dozen Lake Station residents in the gallery shook the hands with assistant U.S. attorneys after U.S. District Senior Judge Rudy Lozano set a Dec. 15 sentencing hearing for the Soderquists.
Under a 2008 state law, Soderquist immediately forfeits his position as Lake Station mayor the minute his conviction for a felony was announced by the jury.
A caucus of Lake Station Democratic precinct committeemen must now meet within 30 days to elect a new mayor who will finish the few months remaining in Soderquist's term.
If Soderquist appeals his conviction, and wins, he would be entitled to back pay, but likely could not reclaim the mayor's office since his term is expected to expire before his appeal is decided.
The removal law was sponsored by state Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, and state Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, after Lake County Councilman Will Smith Jr. was convicted in 2007 of cheating on his income taxes and refused to resign until shortly before his 2008 sentencing.
The law was used in 2010 to force East Chicago Mayor George Pabey from office after he was found guilty of using city workers to remodel a house he owned in Gary.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White also automatically lost his position as the state's chief elections officer in 2012 after he was convicted of voter fraud.
EARLIER FRIDAY
During closing statements earlier Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Kolar painted a picture of the Soderquists' actions as they frequented a casino in January 2011.
Kolar said the Soderquists withdrew $300 from a campaign account just before their player cards placed them at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Mich. After losing a little more than that amount, a $400 ATM withdrawal from the food pantry account was was made at 5:54 p.m. in Michigan City.
By 6:14 p.m., their player cards were being used again in the casino.
“They’re gambling until 10:40 at night after they took money from the food pantry account,” Kolar said. “What does that tell you?”
Kolar pointed to this day as an example of how the couple allegedly improperly took money from the campaign fund and food pantry while at the same time losing more than $100,000 at area casinos.
The money the couple lost from 2009 to 2012 was the result of slot machine play, according to records shown during the trial. During that period, $35,304.25 in ATM withdrawals were made from the campaign fund and $5,040 in such withdrawals were made from the food pantry account.
IRS Special Agent Steve Martinez previously testified the $300 ATM withdrawal from the campaign Kolar referenced was later alleged by the Soderquists to have been a donation from his campaign to the Special Olympics of Indiana. The alleged donation did not show up in the organization’s records. Instead, the organization’s records showed the campaign made a $50 donation in March 2011.
Kolar argued details such as not using the ATM inside the casino and having sole control over accounts were evidence of the couple concealing their activity.
However, defense attorney Scott King argued the case against his clients was more about politics than finances. He said the government had the perception since the federal investigation began that they wanted to, “convict us a mayor from Lake County.”
He said the evidence amounted to gambling or filling out forms wrong, not criminal charges. He questioned why the government didn’t examine campaign records dating back to 1999 when Soderquist’s political career began.
Soderquist has served as mayor since 2008 and prior to that served on the city council. He ran for a third term as mayor this year but was defeated in the Democratic primary.
Deborah Soderquist was her husband’s administrative assistant and was allegedly involved in the operation of the food pantry. She also served as treasurer of her husband’s election campaign committee.
King said Soderquist and his wife funded much of those early campaigns, but it wasn’t until the couple began having financial hurdles that they sought the reimbursements. He argued the ATM withdrawals the government questioned were for legitimate reimbursements related the campaign and food pantry.
When Keith Soderquist took the stand to defend himself and his wife, he told jurors they often waited until the last minute to file campaign expense reports. King said his clients meant to amend the campaign finance reports but they never did.
“Making bad judgment, being negligent is not a crime,” he said. “If not, we would all be criminals.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson told jurors it didn’t matter that Soderquist was a mayor, but also told them the case was about the loss of trust people put in others. He argued the campaign finance reports were a misrepresentation to the public who have the right to see how candidates are spending money.
In response to Soderquist’s explanation for the reports, he argued it equated to him saying he was above the law.
Benson reminded jurors of a bank account Keith Soderquist opened in 2008 to benefit flood victims, which later raised $2,236. Showing a copy of bank records, he said the money was transferred in 2010 to the Lake Station Food Pantry account.
He reminded jurors Deborah Soderquist controlled that account and told them the evidence shows what later happened to those funds.
“I believe the evidence shows, Mr. Soderquist, you are a thief,” Benson said. “Mrs. Soderquist, you are a thief.”
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