08162017 - News Article - Court releases videos of sheriff allegedly taking money that were played during his corruption trial

Court releases videos of sheriff allegedly taking money that were played during his corruption trial
POST-TRIBUNE NEWS
August 16, 2017
chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-buncich-trial-videos-st-0817-20170816-story.html
Videos of Lake County Sheriff John Buncich that a jury viewed during the first week of his public corruption trial were released Wednesday.

The videos were played as evidence during Buncich's trial and show the sheriff allegedly accepting cash.

Buncich starts the ninth day of his trial Thursday morning in Hammond's federal court, as the defense continues to call witnesses.

The government rested its case Monday, after presenting recordings of meetings between the sheriff and area tow owners last week.

The sheriff's two co-defendants, Timothy Downs, former Lake County chief of police, and William "Willie" Szarmach, owner of CSA Towing in Lake Station, previously pleaded guilty, but Buncich has maintained his innocence over accusations that he accepted thousands of dollars in bribes for his campaign as part of an illegal towing scheme.

The videos released by the court Wednesday were made by Downs and Scott Jurgensen, owner of Samson's Towing and the government's confidential informant in the case, prosecutors said.

On July 15, 2015, Downs recorded himself walking into the sheriff's department and into Buncich's office to give the sheriff $7,500 in cash Downs collected from area tow operators for fundraiser tickets, prosecutors said.

At one point, Downs is seen holding the money in his hand in the left screen of the video. About 10 seconds later, the video shows Downs placing the money on Buncich's desk. Seconds later, the money is seen in Buncich's hand before the sheriff places the cash in his desk drawer.

At an April 22, 2016 meeting, Jurgensen recorded Buncich taking cash from Szarmach and himself in the parking lot outside a Merrillville restaurant, prosecutors said.

The three met again on July 21, 2016, and Jurgensen recorded Buncich putting money in his pocket, the video shows.