Prosecutors say firm followed the rules but lost contract after another allegedly bribed Portage Mayor Snyder
Post Tribune
February 05, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-twelve-st-0206-story.html
Federal prosecutors say one business lost a spot on Portage’s towing list after another firm gave Mayor James Snyder $12,000 to get the city’s business.
Federal prosecutors say Scott Jurgensen, of Samson’s Towing, who was cooperating in an undercover FBI investigation, and John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, paid a $12,000 bribe to the mayor to get a spot on the city’s towing list. Prosecutors say to get that spot, Waffco Towing was taken off the list without just cause.
Kevin Farthing, owner of Waffco Towing in Lake Station, said he had towed for Portage from 1998 to when the city ended the contract in July 2016.
Farthing said his company had worked out of two rented yards in Portage, even though his main Lake Station yard was only minutes from the county line. Farthing said when he began towing for the Porter County Sheriff’s Department he rented a new yard in Portage in 2015.
After Snyder first took office in 2012, Farthing said he met with the mayor and was told he didn’t care if Waffco had a yard in Portage.
On July 20, 2016, Farthing said he received a letter from Joe Calhoun, the city’s director of administration at the time, informing him the towing contract was going to end because Waffco didn’t have a yard in Portage.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Benson asked if prior to that letter had Calhoun, the mayor or Police Chief Troy Williams had gone to him with any concerns or problems with Waffco’s operations.
“No,” Farthing said.
The defense sought to show that Waffco did not meet all the city’s requirements.
Defense attorney Neil Brackett asked if the company’s yard in Portage had a locked, secured gate around the facility.
Farthing said it did not.
Brackett also pointed out that the towing policies said the agreements were at the discretion of the police chief.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from Cortina and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, who was indicted alongside the mayor, pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list.
When Jurgensen first approached Snyder in 2014 about the towing, the mayor told him the city had three firms on the list and he didn’t want to add a fourth. Those three firms were Waffco, Precision, and Ambassador, which was then partnered with Cortina.
In 2016, when Jurgensen approached Cortina about partnering after Ambassador had been removed from the city’s towing list.
“…He need to knock Waffco out to get us back on,” Cortina said, during a Jan. 26, 2016 recorded conversation.
On Jan 27, 2016, Cortina delivered checks totaling $12,000 to make the alleged bribe, according to court documents.
Defense attorneys have said the money was not a bribe as prosecutors allege but a legitimate loan to Snyder’s campaign.
Prosecutors played a Sept. 26, 2016 call between Cortina and Jon Snyder, the mayor’s brother, who was cooperating with the FBI and recording the conversation. Jon Snyder asked about the $12,000 being a loan.
Jon Snyder said he spoke with his brother, who said the money was a loan and he would pay it back to Cortina. Jon Snyder said Cortina didn’t tell him anything about it being a loan.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Cortina said.
“Yeah, it’s probably good, right,” Jon Snyder said.
“Yeah, That would be a surprise to me. That would be a surprise to me,” Cortina said. “You hear me? Yeah.”
“You’re not expecting that, right?” Jon Snyder asked.
“No, I’m not expecting that,” Cortina said.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. asked Donald Cooley, a retired FBI agent who worked on a part of the Snyder case, if in reviewing the recordings, if he ever heard Snyder say getting on the tow list required a bribe.
“No,” Cooley said.
Benson asked if in Cooley’s experience investigating public corruption if it was common or uncommon for a public official to ask for a bribe.
“It is uncommon to explicitly demand a bribe,” Cooley said.
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