Jury finds Portage mayor guilty of bribery, obstructing the IRS
Chicago Tribune
February 14, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-mayor-snyder-verdict-st-0215-story.html
A federal jury Thursday found Portage Mayor James Snyder guilty of bribery and obstructing the IRS.
Snyder, 38, was convicted of taking a $13,000 bribe in exchange for contracts to sell five garbage trucks to the city, and using a shell company to hide income and assets from the IRS while owing back personal and business taxes. The jury acquitted Snyder of a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
Snyder has agreed to forfeit $13,000 to the federal government.
The verdict came on the 19th day of Snyder’s trial, and after the four women and eight men on the jury deliberated for nearly 12 hours.
“It’s been a really long road,” Snyder said, after the verdict was announced.
“Today, we were able to knock one of the charges out. Thankfully the jury can see through that one,” Snyder said. “The journey is still ongoing. We have two more counts to deal with.”
Snyder’s defense attorneys had indicated in court that they would appeal the conviction.
“The jury had their facts in front them and made the decision the best they could do with what they had in front of them,” Snyder said. “We’ll continue to work through this.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, which oversaw the prosecution, said that Snyder could face up to 10 years in prison on the bribery charge, and up to three years in prison on the obstruction charge. Snyder’s sentencing is tentatively set for May 14, according to court documents.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana was recused from the case, absent two prosecutors, as U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch II previously represented Snyder.
The jury arrived in Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen’s courtroom to announce the verdict just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
Van Bokkelen asked the jury’s foreman if they had reached a verdict.
“Yes, we have come up with a verdict,” the foreman said.
As the jury’s verdict was announced in court, Snyder was first cleared of one count of bribery before the guilty verdicts on the other two counts were read.
Snyder kept his eye affixed on the judge as the verdict was read, his wife, family and a group of friends sat in the courtroom behind him.
Snyder, a Republican, was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statute and obstructing or impeding the IRS.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder ran for mayor in 2011, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt, which was then owned by Robert and Steve Buha.
Great Lakes Peterbilt is now owned by a different firm.
Defense attorneys say that Snyder used his experience in offering health insurance to city employees through the Affordable Care Act, and making technology upgrades to advise Great Lakes Peterbilt about making similar changes.
A second count said that Snyder, while owing tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS, funneled income through a shell company, and failed to disclose any of those assets to the IRS.
Snyder was cleared of taking a bribe in an alleged pay-to-play towing scheme.
Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, a Democrat, was indicted the same day as Snyder is a similar towing scheme. Buncich was found guilty and began serving a 15-year 8-month sentence in January 2018.
Cortina, 79, who was indicted alongside the mayor, in January pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list. Cortina did not testify during the trial, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself, according to court documents.
Snyder’s defense said during the trial that prosecutors presented no evidence that Snyder knowingly accepted any money that was purported to be a bribe. The defense said that Snyder considered the money a loan from Cortina, a friend and political supporter, to help cover his legal fees.
Snyder has maintained his innocence during the more than two years since he was indicted.
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