New federal judge assigned to second Soderquist case
Post-Tribune (IN)
October 13, 2015
A federal judge who has handled several recent public corruption cases will take over former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist's second criminal case.
U.S. District Judge James Moody has been assigned the case, according to federal court records.
Moody has overseen several recent public corruption cases, including those of for former East Chicago Mayor George Pabey, former Lake County Coroner Thomas Philpot and former Lake County surveyor George Van Til.
The change happened after attorneys for Soderquist asked U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano, who had been overseeing the case, to disqualify himself.
Lozano oversaw Soderquist's trial in his criminal case in September, in which a federal jury convicted him and his wife, Deborah Soderquist, of using money from his campaign fund and the city's food pantry to pay for dozens of gambling trips.
Defense attorneys Scott King and Lakeisha Murdaugh have since filed a motion for a new trial, however, claiming that Lozano fell asleep several times during the trial.
King then filed court papers asking that Lozano disqualify himself from both that case and the other Soderquist case, noting that he has denied sleeping and is now essentially a witness in the issue.
Lozano granted the motion in the second case, which charges the Soderquists with helping Deborah Soderquist's daughter, Miranda Brakley, to hide her theft of money from the city of Lake Station when she worked there as a court clerk.
He has yet to rule on the motion for a new trial or the motion to disqualify himself in the first case, though.
King also has filed a motion to delay the trial in the second case, an issue that Moody will now rule on.
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