01172018 - News Article - Ex-Lake County sheriff has asked to serve 15-year sentence at one of country's '10 cushiest prisons'

Ex-Lake County sheriff has asked to serve 15-year sentence at one of country's '10 cushiest prisons'
Post-Tribune
January 17, 2018
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-buncich-prison-life-st-st-0118-20180117-story.html

Convicted former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich is now inmate 16724-027.

Buncich, sentenced to more than 15 years in prison, arrived at the Metropolitan Correction Center, a federal holding facility in Chicago, after he was taken into custody Tuesday.

The former sheriff is expected to stay at the facility for 45 to 60 days before being transferred to another location to serve his sentence. He’s asked to be assigned to a federal prison camp in Yankton, S.D., according to his attorney.

Defense attorney Bryan Truitt said Tuesday once an appeal is filed, he will petition the court to release Buncich on bond pending review by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

Truitt could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Metropolitan Correction Center staff did not respond to requests for comment.

Federal Judge James Moody on Tuesday sentenced Buncich to serve 15 years and eight months in prison, and pay a $250,000 fine.

Buncich, former Chief Timothy Downs and William Szarmach, of C.S.A. Towing, were named in a multicount indictment in November 2016 alleging a towing scheme in which the sheriff accepted bribes in the form of thousands of dollars in cash and donations to his campaign fund, Buncich Boosters.

Buncich was convicted in August of bribery and wire fraud for using his elected office to solicit bribes from county tow operators. During the former sheriff's 14-day trial, prosecutors said Buncich took money from the tow operators and used that to determine how many tows companies got and in what areas of Lake County they worked.

Buncich has maintained his innocence. Downs pleaded guilty in December 2016, according to court documents, and Szarmach pleaded guilty in July 2017. Both agreed to testify against Buncich during his trial.

Whether Buncich would be taken immediately into custody or allowed to report at a later date was an issue at Tuesday's hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson argued in court documents that Buncich needed to be taken into custody right away because of the length of the sentence he was facing; the former sheriff's access to cash assets; alleged violation of bond conditions; his training and experience as a law enforcement officer; and contact with a federal fugitive.

Truitt, during the sentencing hearing, disputed those claims.

Truitt said there was no evidence that Buncich had access to large amounts of cash and wasn't a flight risk. And, Truitt said, few white collar criminals are taken into custody at the time they're sentenced.

Truitt requested that Buncich be sent to the minimum security federal prison camp in Yankton, S.D., which is on the state's border with Nebraska. It's a town with 14,455 residents, according to 2014 census estimates.

The camps have "dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing" and are "work- and program-oriented," according to the Bureau of Prisons.

In 2009, Forbes ranked Yankton as one of the country's "10 cushiest prisons."

"The winters are tough, and the nearest city of any size is at least an hour away, but Yankton is a standalone minimum-security facility with a staff that's not too tough on prisoners," according to the magazine's online presentation.

Yankton "does not house inmates who have records of escape, violence, sexual offenses or who have major medical/psychiatric problems," according to a federal audit of the facility.

The all-male prison houses more than 580 inmates, according to its website, ranging in age from 20 to 86, the audit said.

The prison is on a historic registry and formerly served as dormitories for students of Yankton College, according to a federal audit.

Public street access goes through the camp, according to a federal audit, and it is in the neighborhood of an elementary school and local homes within city limits.

Convicted local politicians sent to federal prisons across country
•Former East Chicago Mayor George Pabey, sentenced to five years for taking $14,000 from the city, went to Duluth, Minn.

•Former Calumet Township Trustee Dozier Allen, sentenced to 18 months for stealing $143,000 from the township, went to Ashland, Ky.

•Former East Chicago Controller Edwaurdo Maldonado, sentenced to more than eight years for stealing $25 million from the city, went to Duluth, Minn.

•Robert Cantrell, sentenced to six and one half years for stealing $68,000 from North Township, tax fraud and insurance fraud, went to Ashland, Ky.

•Former county clerk and Coroner Thomas Philpot, sentenced to 18 months for stealing from the county, went to Milan, Mich.

•Former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist, sentenced to four years for theft, went to Thomson, Ill.

•Former Lake County Surveyor George Van Til, sentenced to 18 months for using county resources for his campaign, went to Terre Haute.