Jury to decide Lake Station mayor's fate
Chicago Tribune
September 11, 2015 - 5:06 PM
A federal jury will soon decide the fate of Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist after attorneys finished giving closing arguments in the mayor's trial Friday afternoon.
The jury began deliberations after the trial, which was originally expected to last four to five days, ended after eight days of jury selection and testimony.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Kolar and Philip Benson argued that Soderquist and his wife, Deborah Soderquist, are guilty of lying to people who donated to the mayor's campaign fund and the Lake Station Food Pantry when they used those funds to pay for more than 50 gambling trips they took from 2010 through 2012 and then failing to report that money as income on their income tax returns.
"I believe that the evidence shows you are a thief, Mr. Soderquist…." Benson said.
Kolar connected evidence shown during the trial that he argued proved the government's case, including cell phone records that put them near ATMs when withdrawals were made from the campaign and food pantry accounts and at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Mich., soon after.
He focused on one day in particular, Jan. 29, 2011, which was just a few weeks after they made the first ATM withdrawals from the food pantry accounts. Records showed that $300 was taken out of the campaign account at a Lake Station ATM at 2:10 p.m. and that they were then using their players cards at Four Winds 35 minutes later. Activity on their cards stopped a few hours later, and then about 30 minutes after that a withdrawal of $400 was made from the food pantry account at a Michigan City ATM. About 20 minutes later, their cards showed gambling activity again.
"What does that tell you about their state of mind?" Kolar asked the jury, arguing that the Soderquists made it a point to not use the campaign and food pantry ATM cards at the casino to help hide their crimes.
He also argued that they took other steps to hide their crime, including not reporting the withdrawals from the campaign on Soderquists campaign finance reports, never using checks, taking sole control over the two funds and filing false income tax returns.
"It's income, they're taking it, they're using it," Kolar said. "Are they reporting it? No."
But defense attorney Scott King argued the case was about perceptions and that the government's perception was one of a witch hunt.
"The government's perception in this case… when they began investigating this case was 'we got us a Lake County mayor," King argued.
He insisted the government has ignored evidence to support this case, including expenses that King says the Soderquists paid for out of their own pockets for the mayor's various election races, specifically his first two city council races. The Soderquists claim the money they took from the two funds were reimbursement for expenses.
King admitted that the Soderquists failed to report these expenses and then paid reimbursements on their finance reports but attributed to procrastination.
As for not using the ATM at the casino, King referred to the mayor's testimony when he said that they didn't do that because of the perception that could create.
"It's ironic that they have missed the point," King said of the government. "...It had everything to do with protecting political perception."
Benson disputed King's statements, arguing that it's not the government's fault the Soderquists are standing trial, adding that prosecutors didn't care if Soderquist was mayor or not.
"This isn't about a mayor; it's about anybody who puts trust in another person and has that trust ripped from them....," Benson said.
He did argue, however, that it's especially important for people to be able to trust politicians when they go to vote and that the financial forms are an important part of that.
"That's the whole point of those forms, so you can't do crap like that," Benson shouted, pointing at the defendants.
Benson also pointed to an account that people donated more than $2,000 to after floods hit the city in September 2008 and left some homeless, sleeping on cots at the city's community center.
The money sat in the account for 18 months before it was transferred to the food pantry account.
"Why wasn't a single penny given to the people sleeping on the cots?" Benson asked.
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