10032016 - News Article - UPDATE: Former Lake Station mayor sentenced to 4 years

UPDATE: Former Lake Station mayor sentenced to 4 years
NWI Times
Updated October 03, 2016
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/crime-and-court/former-lake-station-mayor-sentenced-to-as-much-as-months/article_0f54b6f5-2aa1-590f-92c3-fd4513cb4caa.html

HAMMOND — The former Lake Station mayor who wagered and lost the public trust is going to prison.

U.S. District Court Judges Rudy Lozano and James Moody on Wednesday sentenced 47-year-old Keith Soderquist to 48 months, and ordered him to pay $4,184 in restitution to the city of Lake Station and $22,571 to the IRS.

Soderquist’s 58-year-old wife, Deborah Soderquist, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and was ordered to share in restitution payments. She ran Lake Station’s food pantry and was treasurer of her husband’s election campaigns.

The Lake Station couple misused tens of thousands of dollars from the mayor’s re-election campaign fund and the city’s food pantry account to gamble at nearby casinos. The former mayor received a 42-month sentence for that fraud.

He received an additional six-month sentence for attempting to cover up his stepdaughter Miranda Brakley’s embezzlement of Lake Station City Court money.

Federal prosecutors had asked that he be sentenced to prison immediately, but Moody agreed to allow him to self-report at a specified date. The former mayor is scheduled to have neck surgery Oct. 13.

However, Moody did give the former mayor a tongue lashing.

“You stole from the food pantry? That’s obscene. I’ve sentenced many politicians in my 40 years here, but what you have done. ... Your city is full of people who are unemployed, underpaid and on welfare. What the hell were you thinking of? Are you goofy? Answer me!” the judge demanded.

The former mayor answered “no.” Moody continued, “So what you did is all right?” Shame on you.”

Soderquist, who had served nearly eight years in office, came under state and federal scrutiny four years ago following a public feud between him and former Lake Station City Judge Christopher A. Anderson, who was elected to replace Soderquist in the mayor’s office.

Anderson fired Miranda Brakley, the mayor’s stepdaughter, for stealing money held by the court from those arrested and posting bond in Lake Station.

Soderquist defended his stepdaughter and supported efforts to abolish City Court. Anderson called for an investigation of the Soderquists.

Federal authorities discovered Keith and Deborah Soderquist lost more than $100,000 between 2009 and 2012 at casino slot machines. They made dozens of withdrawals during the three-year period totaling $35,304.25 from his campaign fund and $5,040 from the city’s food pantry account.

A federal grand jury charged Keith and Deborah Soderquist in 2014 with 11 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and filing false tax returns for criminal misuse of the public funds and covering it up.

A jury last year also found the former mayor and his wife guilty after an eight-day trial of all counts.

Afterward, the government became aware the former mayor had installed in the Lake Station City Hall a system to secretly record telephone conversations and listened to about 30 of the recorded calls made or received by potential government witnesses.

The Soderquists have dropped plans to appeal their convictions, and the former mayor admits to his role in the telephone recording scheme under an agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office to forestall the government from filing additional charges against him or his wife.

Lawyers for both Soderquists argued Wednesday for leniency on grounds their health will deteriorate in prison. Deborah Soderquist suffers from diabetes, muscular dystrophy, degenerative bone disorders and a cancerous lesion on her left kidney.

Brakley, 35, of Lake Station, received six months home detention followed by two years probation July 7 for her guilty plea to the theft.