Judge recommends acceptance of deal for Soderquist's wife
Chicago Tribune
January 25, 2016 - 5:17 PM
A federal magistrate judge said Monday he would recommend acceptance of an agreement between federal attorneys and former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist's wife to end two criminal cases against her.
According to the agreement, the government will drop charges against Deborah Soderquist of helping her daughter try to hide that she stole about $16,000 from the city of Lake Station in return for Soderquist to not fight her conviction of using money from her husband's campaign fund and the city's food pantry to pay for gambling trips.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry quizzed Deborah Soderquist Monday afternoon at a hearing at the U.S. District Court in Hammond, asking her if she signed the agreement voluntarily and knew all of the rights she was giving up.
Deborah Soderquist and her husband were both convicted in the gambling case in September after a two-week trial. The two, who have not been sentenced, filed a motion for a new trial.
That motion will be dropped as part of her agreement with federal attorneys. The deal also means she will no longer go on trial in the second case.
The agreement is part of plea deals that the government also worked out with her husband and her daughter, Miranda Brakley. Brakley pled guilty last week to stealing from the city, and the former mayor pled guilty to helping Brakley try to hide the theft by arranging a loan from another party so she could return the money and say she had simply misplaced it.
As part of the mayor's plea agreement, he will also drop all of his acquittal rights and motions in the gambling case.
The deals are all contingent on the others, meaning if one of the defendants does not fully comply, the government can withdraw their part of the agreement for all three.
Deborah Soderquist's deal must still be accepted by U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano. No sentencing dates for the Soderquists or Brakley had been set as of Monday evening.
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