Former town council president Thomas 'Tommy' Goralczyk pleads guilty in Merrillville towing bribery
NWI Times
Jan 31, 2018
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-town-council-president-thomas-tommy-goralczyk-pleads-guilty-in/article_487437e0-7afa-52b2-b218-f70320cd0d53.html
A former Merrillville town councilman pleaded guilty to felony bribery Wednesday for his role in an influence-buying scheme in government towing work.
Thomas "Tommy" Goralczyk, 51, of Merrillville, appeared Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Hammond to admit he accepted bribes in return for promises of a lucrative contract he made five years ago to an undercover FBI informant.
"How do you want to plea?" U.S. District Judge Joseph S. VanBokkelen asked Goralczyk after questioning him extensively about his understandings of the court proceedings.
"Guilty, your honor," Goralczyk replied, his defense attorney, Russell Brown, standing closely to his left.
The court deemed him not a flight risk or danger to the public, and allowed Goralczyk to await his sentencing hearing outside the confines of jail.
Goralczyk on Wednesday became the fourth person convicted in what promises to be a growing federal investigation into public corruption in local government.
Former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich was sentenced earlier this month to 188 months in prison after a federal jury found him guilty of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in towing bribes.
Timothy Downs, Buncich's former second-in-command, pleaded guilty to receiving bribes as Buncich's bag man, and William Szarmach, a Lake Station towing firm owner, pleaded guilty to paying Buncich bribes.
And it is far from over.
Portage Mayor James E. Snyder and John Cortina, owner of a Portage towing firm, are now set to stand trial June 4 in U.S. District Court — Snyder for allegedly soliciting and receiving $12,000 in exchange for a Portage towing contract and Cortina for allegedly offering the money. They are pleading not guilty.
FBI Special Agent Nathan Holbrook testified at Buncich's sentencing the federal towing investigation extended beyond the Sheriff's Department and Merrillville.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch II recently said he is forming a new task force "to root out public corruption wherever it exists in the Northern District of Indiana."
Unlike Buncich, who continues to protest his innocence and tested the credibility of the government's evidence during a 14-day trial last summer, Goralczyk began cooperating with federal authorities even before his indictment last fall and signed an agreement to plead guilty in return for a more lenient sentence.
Goralczyk admitted in the plea agreement that he accepted two vehicles from a witness cooperating with the FBI on the promise he would use his influence as a councilman to steer the town's towing contract to the informant's towing company.
That individual has been identified as Scott Jurgensen, a former Merrillville police officer and owner of a Merrillville tow firm who complained to the FBI special agent that he couldn't get towing work because he refused to pay bribes.
Holbrook recruited Jurgensen to help the FBI by accepting bribes as an undercover informant.
Goralczyk received bribes between February 2013 and August 2014, Goralczyk's agreement states. He accepted a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee from the informant for $400, when he knew the vehicle's value exceeded $2,500.
Goralczyk also accepted a 2008 Ford Focus, valued at more than $5,000, for which he paid nothing, the agreement states. He also was provided four camper tires and free storage for a personal motorcycle as part of the deal.
The former councilman attempted to hide the bribes by presenting false bills of sale to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles representing he paid $1,000 for the Jeep Cherokee and $2,750 for the Ford Focus, the agreement states.
Goralczyk is agreeing to forfeit $7,500 before sentencing as part of the plea deal.
Goralczyk was first elected as a Merrillville town councilman in 2007 and took office in January 2008. He was re-elected in 2011 and began his second term as 4th Ward councilman in January 2012.
He served as president of the Town Council in 2011 and 2015.
He also held various other positions on the Merrillville Redevelopment Commission, Lake County Solid Waste Management Board and the governing board of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, according to the agreement.
He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years of supervised release, though prosecutors have recommended the court impose a sentence at the recommended guideline range.
By pleading guilty to the felony offense, Goralczyk loses his right to vote, serve as an elected official or own a handgun, VanBokkelen said.
Goralczyk's sentencing hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. May 16.
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