Soderquist reaches deal, to plead guilty
Former Lake Station mayor will drop motion for new trial
Post-Tribune (IN)
January 20, 2016
Former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist has reached a deal with federal attorneys to plead guilty in one criminal case and to stop fighting his conviction in another.
According to a plea agreement filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, Soderquist admits he helped his stepdaughter, Miranda Brakley, hide that she stole more than $5,000 in court bond money from the city by helping her get a $15,000 loan from someone else. He faces up to five years in prison for pleading guilty to one count of acting as an accessory after the fact.
As part of the deal, Soderquist will drop his fight in a separate criminal case in which a federal jury convicted him in September of using money from his campaign fund and Lake Station's food pantry on dozens of gambling trips to Michigan.
Soderquist and his wife, Deborah Soderquist, who also was convicted, had filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano fell asleep at least twice during the two-week trial.
Both Soderquists have agreed to drop that motion and waive all their appeal rights in that case. In return, federal attorneys are dropping all charges against Deborah Soderquist in the case involving her daughter, and they will recommend that Keith Soderquist serve his sentences in both cases concurrently. They also will recommend he serve the minimum of the recommended federal sentencing guideline range in the case involving Brakley and that he serve within the guideline range for the other case. The guideline range will be determined at the sentencing hearing.
Brakley also has agreed to plead guilty to one count of theft from a program receiving federal funds. She faces up to 10 years in prison, although she could avoid jail time entirely. In return, the government will drop a second count of lying on her bankruptcy filing.
The agreements for both Soderquists stipulate that all three defendants must abide by their agreement for the mayor and his wife to receive the benefits of their own agreements.
Scott King, attorney for the Soderquists, said that the plea agreements came after concerns about the health of both Deborah Soderquist and Brakley.
"We thought there was an opportunity at trial here," he said. "But both have health issues."
The mayor was concerned and protective of them, King said.
"Frankly I've got a great deal of respect for him," he said.
Thomas Vanes, attorney for Brakley, declined to comment on the agreement.
A change of plea hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
The agreements appear to end the legal saga of the Soderquists. Trouble first became public when then-Mayor Soderquist and then-Lake Station City Judge Chris Anderson got into a public fight over Brakley in June 2012 after Anderson fired her from her job as a court clerk.
Soderquist and the Lake Station City Council wrested control of all the court clerks from Anderson, placing them under the clerk-treasurer, but a Lake County judge later reversed the move after Anderson filed a lawsuit.
The Indiana State Board of Accounts later reported Brakley never deposited about $16,000 of bond money into the court's bank account. She returned the money by December 2012, claiming she had mistakenly taken it with her other belongings when she was fired and that it had sat in her vehicle ever since.
FBI agents would then raid City Hall in 2013, and federal attorneys filed charges against the Soderquists and Brakley in the spring of 2014.
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