09012016 - News Article - Former Lake Station mayor admits to wiretapping employees

Former Lake Station mayor admits to wiretapping employees

NWI Times
Updated Sep 1, 2016  

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/former-lake-station-mayor-admits-to-wiretapping-employees/article_7aed65b1-224b-51e3-afae-ca72c1d8a8be.html

LAKE STATION, Ind. (AP) — New court records show that the former mayor of the northwest Indiana city of Lake Station admitted to recording and listening to phone calls of City Hall employees over several years starting in 2011.

The Chicago Tribune  reports that the Wednesday filings were part of Keith Soderquist's presentencing agreement. He is to be sentenced Sept. 28 after pleading guilty and being convicted in two criminal cases.

The agreement reveals that the government learned about the wiretapping after a Lake Station City employee discovered a recording system device in March. An FBI investigation revealed that Soderquist had the system installed during the construction of city hall in 2011.

Records show that between Oct. 12, 2011, and Aug. 13 of last year, Soderquist recorded about 425,000 calls. Since Dec. 1, 2014, he had listened to about 30 of the recordings.