I “Woefully” Broke the Law: LC Police Chief Tim Downs
The Northwest Indiana Gazette
December 17, 2016
http://nwigazette.com/2016/12/woefully-broke-law-lc-police-chief-tim-downs/
The Northwest Indiana Gazette
December 17, 2016
http://nwigazette.com/2016/12/woefully-broke-law-lc-police-chief-tim-downs/
Lake County Police Chief Tim Downs became the latest in a long line of Sheriff’s officials to stand in front of a judge and admit to breaking the laws they are sworn to uphold. For his part, Downs placed the blame on Lake County’s top cop, Sheriff John Buncich. Downs said he was ordered to solicit towing companies for campaign contributions in exchange for county work. In short, he was the bagman for bribes. Downs admitted that he solicited these contributions during regular working hours, using a county provided vehicle. In fact, the charge for which he plead guilty involves wire fraud-receiving a pay check via direct deposit while not working.
The Campaign Finance:
The plea agreement mentions three specific dates-April 8, 2014, October 21, 2014 and June 3, 2015. Campaign finance reports filed by Sheriff John Buncich show no contributions on April 8, 2014. Midnight Blue Towing in Crown Point and Stan’s Auto Body Shop and Towing in St. John each appear on the campaign finance report on April 30, 2014 with a $1,000.00 contribution. On October 21, 2014 the campaign finance report shows two contributions, one from Assistant Police Chief Daniel Murchek in the amount of $200.00 and another from an individual not involved in towing. No contributions are shown on June 3, 2015 and shows only one towing related contribution on June 29, 2015. That contribution was from Z’s Incorporated, in Gary in the amount of $1,000.00
It is important to note that contributions do not equate to alleged bribes. In fact, the indictment clearly states that some contributions were listed on the campaign finance report and some were not. Buncich reported raising approximately $170,000 in 2014 and $72,000 in 2015. Notably, Buncich was re-elected in 2014 and could not run for Sheriff again. The question seems to be not only why would he be raising such a large amount of money, but more important, why would anyone be giving that much money to someone who could not run again? This is not unusual in Lake County politics but never seems to garner the attention of local or federal prosecutors.
History of Corruption:
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department has a long history of corruption in its upper ranks. Under former Sheriff Roy Dominguez, officers were selling machine gun parts out of the county building and he didn’t notice. In 2011, Lake County Officers Joseph Kumstar, Ronald Slusser and Joseph Kabella were convicted of selling barrels of guns and gun sights which were for use by the military and police only. No one has ever traced any of those gun parts and we don’t know if they ended up on the streets of Lake County or elsewhere. Again, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter was eerily silent during the prosecution. Dominguez maintains to this day that he knew nothing about the gun-running operation which happened on his watch.
Former Lake County Police Chief Mike Mokol was convicted of taking bribes in 1991 and former Sheriff Rudy Bartolomei was similarly convicted. Bartolomei ultimately entered the witness protection program and helped to convict 18 other politicians and crony contractors.
Where do we go from here?
It is very likely that more Lake County Sheriff’s Police Officers will be indicted, or at the very least implicated, in the towing for bribes scandal. According to the plea agreement, Downs visited towing companies to collect bribes while being paid by the taxpayers. Sources close to the investigation indicate that he did not do this alone. If someone else was in the car with Downs, is that person cooperating or will that person be indicted? Is it possible the person was in the car and did nothing illegal?
We have three towing operators involved so far and we know there were at least 12 companies that did towing for the county. Will we see more indictments of towing operators? What about other contractors? Did the pay to play scheme only apply to towing company operators or did some of the other county contractors provide illegal kickbacks to the Sheriff? If the investigation broadens to other contractors, is it possible that the feds will begin to look at contributions to other local politicians? What about Mayors who had similar relationships with towing companies?
2017 is certain to be an interesting year in Lake County, Indiana.
The Campaign Finance:
The plea agreement mentions three specific dates-April 8, 2014, October 21, 2014 and June 3, 2015. Campaign finance reports filed by Sheriff John Buncich show no contributions on April 8, 2014. Midnight Blue Towing in Crown Point and Stan’s Auto Body Shop and Towing in St. John each appear on the campaign finance report on April 30, 2014 with a $1,000.00 contribution. On October 21, 2014 the campaign finance report shows two contributions, one from Assistant Police Chief Daniel Murchek in the amount of $200.00 and another from an individual not involved in towing. No contributions are shown on June 3, 2015 and shows only one towing related contribution on June 29, 2015. That contribution was from Z’s Incorporated, in Gary in the amount of $1,000.00
It is important to note that contributions do not equate to alleged bribes. In fact, the indictment clearly states that some contributions were listed on the campaign finance report and some were not. Buncich reported raising approximately $170,000 in 2014 and $72,000 in 2015. Notably, Buncich was re-elected in 2014 and could not run for Sheriff again. The question seems to be not only why would he be raising such a large amount of money, but more important, why would anyone be giving that much money to someone who could not run again? This is not unusual in Lake County politics but never seems to garner the attention of local or federal prosecutors.
History of Corruption:
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department has a long history of corruption in its upper ranks. Under former Sheriff Roy Dominguez, officers were selling machine gun parts out of the county building and he didn’t notice. In 2011, Lake County Officers Joseph Kumstar, Ronald Slusser and Joseph Kabella were convicted of selling barrels of guns and gun sights which were for use by the military and police only. No one has ever traced any of those gun parts and we don’t know if they ended up on the streets of Lake County or elsewhere. Again, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter was eerily silent during the prosecution. Dominguez maintains to this day that he knew nothing about the gun-running operation which happened on his watch.
Former Lake County Police Chief Mike Mokol was convicted of taking bribes in 1991 and former Sheriff Rudy Bartolomei was similarly convicted. Bartolomei ultimately entered the witness protection program and helped to convict 18 other politicians and crony contractors.
Where do we go from here?
It is very likely that more Lake County Sheriff’s Police Officers will be indicted, or at the very least implicated, in the towing for bribes scandal. According to the plea agreement, Downs visited towing companies to collect bribes while being paid by the taxpayers. Sources close to the investigation indicate that he did not do this alone. If someone else was in the car with Downs, is that person cooperating or will that person be indicted? Is it possible the person was in the car and did nothing illegal?
We have three towing operators involved so far and we know there were at least 12 companies that did towing for the county. Will we see more indictments of towing operators? What about other contractors? Did the pay to play scheme only apply to towing company operators or did some of the other county contractors provide illegal kickbacks to the Sheriff? If the investigation broadens to other contractors, is it possible that the feds will begin to look at contributions to other local politicians? What about Mayors who had similar relationships with towing companies?
2017 is certain to be an interesting year in Lake County, Indiana.
No comments:
Post a Comment