Lake sheriff seeks trial delay
Post-Tribune
March 06, 2017
Attorneys for Lake County Sheriff John Buncich on Monday asked a federal judge to delay the start of his criminal trial.
Citing the amount of material in need of review to prepare Buncich's defense, attorney Bryan Truitt requested the court agree to push back the intended April 6 start date set for the sheriff's jury trial, according to court documents. A judge has yet to rule on the request.
The U.S. Attorney's office did not file any response the request Monday.
Truitt said, in his motion, the defense team still is reviewing material provided by federal authorities but still is missing some of the documents they need.
"There is no way that the defense can be adequately prepared by April 6, 2017, to try this case," Truitt said in the motion.
Truitt said he thinks a July or August trial date is more realistic.
Buncich's defense team asked the U.S. Attorney's office to release personal documents confiscated in November by the FBI, according to court documents. A final decision is still pending on whether those documents will be released.
The sheriff and William Szarmach, of CSA Towing in Lake Station, were tentatively set for April 6 trials.
Buncich was indicted along with Szarmach and former Lake County Chief of Police Timothy Downs, who pleaded guilty in December.
Buncich, Downs and Szarmach were named in multicount indictments alleging an illegal towing scheme in which the sheriff accepted bribes in the form of thousands of dollars in cash and donations to his campaign fund, Buncich's Boosters, according to court records. All three faced charges of wire fraud, while Buncich and Szarmach also are charged with bribery.
The sheriff, whose department was in charge of deciding which companies were called for towing services, and the chief allegedly steered business toward towing operators in exchange for cash and checks, the government alleged in a 14-page indictment. Buncich allegedly took more than $25,000 in cash bribes and $7,000 in checks from Szarmach and another towing operator identified as "Individual A," according to the Nov. 18 indictment.
Downs struck a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office, which a federal judge has not yet accepted, admitting he allegedly cooperated with Buncich to solicit bribes from tow truck operators for favorable treatment. In addition, Downs, per the terms of the agreement, resigned from the Lake County Sheriff's office.
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