11052015 - News Article - Soderquist's 2nd trial delayed till February

Soderquist's 2nd trial delayed till February
Post-Tribune (IN)
November 5, 2015
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.portagelibrary.info/resources/doc/nb/news/158EC22D6D2776A8?p=AWNB
A federal judge agreed Tuesday to delay former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist's second public corruption trial until February.

U.S. District Judge James Moody agreed to the request during a sealed hearing at the U.S. District Court in Hammond and ordered the trial to be set for Feb. 1, according to court records. He set the sealed hearing after two sealed motions by Scott King, who is representing Soderquist and his wife, Deborah Soderquist, and Thomas Vanes, who is representing the Keith Soderquist's stepdaughter, Miranda Brakley.

The three defendants were set to go on trial Monday. Brakley is accused of stealing about $16,000 from the city when she worked there as a deputy court clerk and of hiding the money from her bankruptcy filings.

The Soderquists are charged with acting as accessories after the fact and of money structuring. Federal attorneys say the Soderquists took a loan from a relative in Kentucky and gave the money to Brakley so she could return it in order to help hide the crime.

Keith and Deborah Soderquist were found guilty in September by a federal jury in a separate case. They were convicted of using money from his campaign fund and for the city's food pantry to pay for dozens of gambling trips to Michigan. He has filed a motion to vacate the conviction and for a new trial.