Ex-Lake Station mayor pleads guilty to cover-up
NWI Times
Jan 20, 2016
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/ex-lake-station-mayor-pleads-guilty-to-cover-up/article_7f2bc547-4cf3-5d90-8f1c-eddf1f9ff11a.html
NWI Times
Jan 20, 2016
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/ex-lake-station-mayor-pleads-guilty-to-cover-up/article_7f2bc547-4cf3-5d90-8f1c-eddf1f9ff11a.html
HAMMOND — Former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist and his stepdaughter remain free on bond after admitting in U.S. District Court she embezzled City Court funds and he tried to cover it up.
The 46-year-old now bearded former municipal executive told Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry on Wednesday he voluntarily has given up his rights to a second jury trial and to appeal his earlier conviction for public corruption.
He told the court he learned in 2012 his stepdaughter, Miranda Brakley, embezzled about $16,000 from Lake Station City Court while she was employed there as a clerk.
He borrowed money from an unidentified person to replace the missing money as part of a cover-up story that Brakley had only misplaced, not stolen the amount.
Brakley, 35, who also lives in Lake Station, pleaded guilty to the theft Wednesday.
They and the former mayor's wife, Deborah Soderquist, remain free while awaiting sentencing. No date has been set and the range of their potential sentences isn't known presently. The magistrate said there is a possibility Brakley could receive home detention.
The former mayor and his stepdaughter were scheduled to go to trial next month, but signed plea agreements Tuesday in return for possible leniency. They and the former mayor's wife also gave up all future appeals, including their previous effort to win a new trial on their earlier wire fraud convictions.
A jury found the former mayor and his wife guilty Sept. 11 of improperly taking thousands of dollars from Keith Soderquist's re-election campaign fund and the city's food pantry account to gamble at nearby casinos. They previously sought a new trial on grounds U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano fell asleep while presiding over their trial.
The former mayor, who had served nearly eight years, came under state and federal scrutiny four years ago after former Lake Station City Judge Christopher A. Anderson discovered Brakley stole bond money those arrested in Lake Station posted to get out of jail.
Anderson left the bench last year, ran for Lake Station mayor and defeated Soderquist and a Republican opponent.
Merrillville defense attorney Scott King said the plea deal represents the former mayor's effort to spare the health of his family from the stress of another trial and lengthy appeal.
The 46-year-old now bearded former municipal executive told Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry on Wednesday he voluntarily has given up his rights to a second jury trial and to appeal his earlier conviction for public corruption.
He told the court he learned in 2012 his stepdaughter, Miranda Brakley, embezzled about $16,000 from Lake Station City Court while she was employed there as a clerk.
He borrowed money from an unidentified person to replace the missing money as part of a cover-up story that Brakley had only misplaced, not stolen the amount.
Brakley, 35, who also lives in Lake Station, pleaded guilty to the theft Wednesday.
They and the former mayor's wife, Deborah Soderquist, remain free while awaiting sentencing. No date has been set and the range of their potential sentences isn't known presently. The magistrate said there is a possibility Brakley could receive home detention.
The former mayor and his stepdaughter were scheduled to go to trial next month, but signed plea agreements Tuesday in return for possible leniency. They and the former mayor's wife also gave up all future appeals, including their previous effort to win a new trial on their earlier wire fraud convictions.
A jury found the former mayor and his wife guilty Sept. 11 of improperly taking thousands of dollars from Keith Soderquist's re-election campaign fund and the city's food pantry account to gamble at nearby casinos. They previously sought a new trial on grounds U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano fell asleep while presiding over their trial.
The former mayor, who had served nearly eight years, came under state and federal scrutiny four years ago after former Lake Station City Judge Christopher A. Anderson discovered Brakley stole bond money those arrested in Lake Station posted to get out of jail.
Anderson left the bench last year, ran for Lake Station mayor and defeated Soderquist and a Republican opponent.
Merrillville defense attorney Scott King said the plea deal represents the former mayor's effort to spare the health of his family from the stress of another trial and lengthy appeal.
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