06282017 - News Article - Portage mayor's trial moved to January

Portage mayor's trial moved to January
Post Tribune
June 28, 2017
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-mayor-trial-delay-st-0626-20170628-story.html

A federal judge delayed the trial for Portage Mayor James Snyder and a city tow operator, who were both indicted on corruption charges last year.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and defense attorneys for Snyder and John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, petitioned the court to move the trial back to October, citing the volume of material still needed to be reviewed to prepare for the court proceedings, according to court documents.

Magistrate Judge John Martin wrote, in his order, that failing to grant the continuance would not allow the attorneys time to prepare for trial.

Martin scheduled the trial to start in January 2018.

"The discovery already tendered includes hours of undercover recordings and hundreds of pages of documents, all of which is still under review by defense counsel," the motion to continue read. "Additionally, more materials will be forthcoming from the government."

Snyder and Cortina were charged in November with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said Snyder allegedly solicited money from Cortina and "Individual A" and gave them a towing contract for Portage.

Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for allegedly accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract, and allegedly obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws.

Snyder and Cortina both pleaded not guilty to the charges last year, according to court documents.

The trial for Snyder and Cortina has been continued twice already, once in January and again in March, according to court documents.