12242017 - News Article - New U.S. attorney has a veteran award-winning staff of trial lawyers to go after corrupt politicians and violent street gangs

New U.S. attorney has a veteran award-winning staff of trial lawyers to go after corrupt politicians and violent street gangs
NWI Times
Updated Dec 24, 2017
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/new-u-s-attorney-has-a-veteran-award-winning-staff/article_f6f0bd39-5520-5b09-b6df-8040d15b5207.html

HAMMOND — U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch II recently acknowledged he is coming into office this year with a skilled staff of attorneys he intends to use to prosecute violent and white-collar criminals.

It's also an award-winning staff.

Kirsch said the team of assistant U.S. attorneys for the Northern District of Indiana and agents of the FBI and ATF regularly win awards from the U.S. Department of Justice as well as other federal agencies for their work on public integrity cases, crimes against children and violations involving fish and wildlife cases, national parks and other environment-related cases.

They are most celebrated for the prosecution of local chapters of violent street gangs.

Kirsch said they received a commendation from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Administration and won the Assistant Attorney General's Award of Distinguished Service for the prosecution of more than 40 individual members of the Latin Kings.

They also won the Assistant Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award for work on the Imperial Gangsters case.

Much of this work was accomplished in recent years under former U.S. Attorney David Capp, who told The Times earlier this year his office teamed up with local authorities to investigate gang-related homicides to take more than 80 members of the Latin Kings and Imperial Gangsters off the streets in the last five years.

The Latin Kings and Imperial Gangsters are criminal organizations with thousands of members across the United States and overseas.

Chicago has been a traditional power base of the Latin Kings. Their Southeast Chicago regional leadership consider Gary, Hammond and East Chicago part of their turf.

The Imperial Gangsters chapters in East Chicago engaged in murder, assault and narcotics trafficking across Northwest Indiana.

Capp stepped down in March, and President Donald Trump nominated Kirsch as his replacement in July; the U.S. Senate confirmed Kirsch in October.

Kirsch had served previously as an assistant U.S. attorney here from 2001 to 2008, focusing on white-collar crime investigations as well as the successful prosecution of numerous elected and appointed public officials.

Kirsch said an investigation into public corruption involving public towing contracts, begun under Capp, remains active under his administration.

That investigation already has resulted in the conviction of former Sheriff John Buncich, Timothy Downs, the former sheriff's second-in-command, and William Szarmach, a Lake Station towing firm owner.

A U.S. District Court jury found Buncich guilty Aug. 25 of accepting bribes from William Szarmach and an undercover FBI informant seeking lucrative county police towing assignments.

A federal grand jury last month charged former Merrillville Town Councilman Thomas Goralczyk, 51, of Merrillville, with taking a bribe from a federal police informant in exchange for a vehicle towing contract. He is scheduled to plead guilty Jan. 31.

Portage Mayor James Snyder has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial on bribery, extortion and tax evasion charges related to the towing investigation.