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01142019 - NEWS ARTICLES - PORTAGE INDIANA MAYOR JAMES SNYDER - FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL - WEEK 1
01222019 - NEWS ARTICLES - PORTAGE INDIANA MAYOR JAMES SNYDER - FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL - WEEK 2
01282019 - NEWS ARTICLES - PORTAGE INDIANA MAYOR JAMES SNYDER - FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL - WEEK 3
02042019 - NEWS ARTICLES - PORTAGE INDIANA MAYOR JAMES SNYDER - FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL - WEEK 4
02112019 - NEWS ARTICLES - PORTAGE INDIANA MAYOR JAMES SNYDER - FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL - WEEK 5
02142019 - NEWS ARTICLES - PORTAGE MAYOR JAMES SNYDER GUILTY OF FEDERAL CHARGES
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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.
SNYDER GUILTY
UPDATE: Felony bribery conviction knocks Portage mayor out of office
NWI Times
February 14, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-felony-bribery-conviction-knocks-portage-mayor-out-of-office/article_e1bb6742-0ec0-543a-961d-2ffd17c715cb.html
HAMMOND — A federal jury's verdict ensured two title changes for James Snyder Thursday: He is now the former Portage mayor and is a convicted felon.
After a trial spanning three weeks, the Hammond federal court jury found Snyder guilty of two felonies — one bribery count and another tax-related felony. The panel acquitted Snyder of a third bribery charge.
The bribery conviction is punishable by up to ten years in prison, while the obstruction count is punishable by up to three years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, which has been overseeing the case.
After walking from the Hammond courthouse, Snyder highlighted the dismissed charge.
Standing on the courthouse plaza holding the hand of his wife, Deborah, the disgraced former mayor said the jury "knocked one of the charges out."
But in posting the guilty verdict to two other felony charges, the jury also knocked Snyder out of the mayor's office.
Under Indiana law, a felony conviction immediately removes an elected official from public office.
Snyder, who was in the last year of his second term, will temporarily be replaced by Portage City Council President Sue Lynch, D-at-large.
She will serve as acting mayor until Portage Republican precinct committee members can elect someone to fulfill Snyder's term in a special caucus. Snyder's existing term was set to expire Dec. 31.
Jurors found Snyder guilty of accepting a $13,000 bribe from former Great Lakes Peterbilt owners Bob and Steve Buha in exchange for some $1.25 million in garbage truck bids. They also found him guilty of a tax obstruction charge in which he was accused of creating a sham company to hide money from the IRS.
Snyder was acquitted on a third charge, which alleged he accepted a $12,000 bribe from former co-defendant John Cortina and Samson Towing owner Scott Jurgensen, also an undercover FBI informant, to put the duo on the city's tow list.
Snyder contended throughout the 19-day trial the funds were a $2,000 contribution to his campaign committee and a $10,000 loan to his campaign.
Cortina pleaded guilty last month to a felony charge of paying Snyder the bribe and is scheduled to be sentenced in April.
Jurors deliberated nearly 12 hours over two days in the trial, which saw more than 20 witnesses and more than 15 days of testimony.
The investigation into Snyder began in September 2013 and led to a November 2016 grand jury indictment of Snyder and Cortina.
"This has been a really long road," Snyder said as he left the courthouse.
As the verdict was read, neither Snyder, his wife nor his parents showed any emotion to the convictions.
Snyder's contempt for the government prosecution, however, was evident.
Following the reading of the verdict, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen and others discussed Snyder's decision to waive a jury hearing on the forfeiture of $13,000 resulting from the bribery conviction.
Van Bokkelen, who said he had never dealt with the issue in a similar way, asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson for advice.
Snyder asked the judge why he was asking the government prosecutor for advice and not Snyder's own attorney.
"It's really hard to take his word for anything," Snyder said, directing his comment toward Benson.
Unlike during Tuesday's closing arguments, which saw a packed courtroom of Snyder's friends and family, only a handful of family members and friends were present when the verdict was read Thursday.
Snyder said the jurors saw beyond the allegations in the towing-related bribery charge, which led to an acquittal on that charge.
He said he will continue to fight the conviction, presumably through appeal.
One of his attorneys, Jackie Bennett, said during the afternoon courtroom session they have "reserved a number of issues for appeal."
Snyder is scheduled to be sentenced at 11 a.m. May 24 before Van Bokkelen.
NW Indiana mayor convicted of taking bribe that impacted city contracts
Chicago Sun-Times
February 14, 2019
https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/nw-indiana-mayor-convicted-of-taking-bribe-that-impacted-city-contracts/
A federal grand jury found a northwest Indiana mayor guilty of bribery Thursday after he allegedly solicited and took a payoff that influenced lucrative city contracts.
Portage Mayor James Snyder, 38, was found guilty of the bribery charge, as well as a single count of obstruction of internal revenue laws, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Officer for the Northern District of Illinois. He was acquitted of an additional count of bribery.
From 2012 to 2014, Snyder solicited and pocketed a $13,000 check that was used to influence a series of contracts the city awarded, including contracts approved by the Portage Board of Works that totaled more than $1.1 million, prosecutors said.
Snyder was also convicted of hiding cash to avoid paying the IRS personal taxes and taxes owed by his mortgage business, Financial Trust Mortgage LLC in Portage, prosecutors said.
In addition to secretly diverting funds from his business to a sole proprietorship he created, Snyder also submitted tax forms that failed to disclose the existence of the holding and its bank account, among other things, prosecutors said.
The bribery conviction is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while the obstruction count carries a maximum prison sentence of 3 years, prosecutors said.
Portage Mayor Convicted Of Accepting $13000 In Bribes
CBS Chicago
February 14, 2019
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/video/4029467-portage-mayor-convicted-of-accepting-13000-in-bribes/
Northwestern Indiana mayor convicted of bribery, tax charge
WGN-TV
February 14, 2019
https://wgntv.com/2019/02/14/northwestern-indiana-mayor-convicted-of-bribery-tax-charge/
HAMMOND, Ind. — A jury has convicted a northwestern Indiana mayor of one count each of bribery and tax obstruction while acquitting him of a second bribery count.
The jury returned the verdicts Thursday against 38-year-old Portage Mayor James Snyder during its second day of deliberations. Under Indiana law, a felony conviction immediately removes an elected official from public office.
Snyder, a Republican, was found guilty of accepting $13,000 from a Portage company after it received contracts worth more than $1.25 million for garbage trucks. The tax charge stems from a mortgage company he once managed and back personal income taxes.
He was acquitted of a charge alleging he solicited $12,000 from towing operators.
Snyder has maintained his innocence. His attorneys indicated he will appeal the convictions.
No verdict yet in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial
NWI Times
February 13, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/no-verdict-yet-in-portage-mayor-james-snyder-s-public/article_aceae5d7-d283-51cd-9836-ed88c4ca4638.html
HAMMOND — Jurors in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption case deliberated for nearly six hours Wednesday before being sent home for the night.
Jury deliberations will continue at 9 a.m. Thursday in what will be the 19th day of the trial.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 on three charges. His trial began Jan. 14.
The first count against Snyder alleges he solicited two bank checks, for $10,000 and $2,000, from former co-defendant Cortina to put Cortina and his business partner, Scott Jurgensen, owner of Samson Towing, on the city's towing list.
Snyder claimed $2,000 was a campaign donation, and $10,000 came from Cortina as loans to pay Snyder's attorney bills.
In transcripts of undercover recordings, Cortina refers to the money as "juice money" he paid Snyder in an effort to get on the city's towing list. During his plea hearing Friday, Cortina told the court he perceived the money to be a bribe.
Cortina, who took the Fifth Amendment and did not testify during Snyder's trial, pleaded guilty last month to paying the bribe.
The second count against Snyder alleged he accepted $13,000 from a Portage company in exchange for favorable contracts with the city. Snyder was alleged to have solicited the $13,000 from Great Lakes Peterbilt days after the company received contracts worth more than $1.25 million for garbage trucks.
The third count against Snyder involves his private business operations with a mortgage company he previously managed. The count alleges, among other things, that Snyder, who managed the company, collected but failed to pay to the federal government employee payroll taxes. The alleged behavior dates back to 2005. He was also accused of obstructing the IRS from collection some $30,000 in back personal income taxes.
Prosecutors said Snyder created a company through which he funneled money to hide it from the IRS and failed to file appropriate tax forms.
No verdict in Portage mayor's corruption trial; jurors to resume deliberations Thursday
Chicago Tribune
February 13, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-verdict-st-0214-story.html
A federal jury went home at 4 p.m. Wednesday without a verdict in Portage Mayor James Snyder’s public corruption trial.
The jury is expected to return Thursday morning. The 12 jurors deliberated for roughly seven hours Wednesday before Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen called prosecutors, Snyder and his defense attorneys into the courtroom to tell them the jury would be recessed.
“I’m going to bring the jury in and excuse them. For the day,” Van Bokkelen said.
Snyder, 38, was charged with allegedly taking a $12,000 bribe to ensure a tow operator partnered with a longtime friend and political supporter of the mayor to get on the city’s tow list; steering city contracts for garbage trucks to a firm in exchange for a $13,000 payout; and using a shell company to hide income and assets from the IRS.
Snyder was not in the federal courthouse until shortly before the jury recessed for the day. The mayor came into court with his wife, Deborah, and defense attorneys.
The jury began deliberating Wednesday morning at federal court in Hammond, 18 days after Snyder’s trial began. The 12 jurors heard 15 days of testimony and evidence in the case.
Federal prosecutors have said that Snyder moved from scheme to scheme to enrich himself. Prosecutors say he hid money from the IRS to avoid the government from collecting all the money it was owed; saw a chance to net a kickback by seeing a truck dealership owned by political backers received city business; and masked a bribe as a campaign donation, knowing he was under federal investigation.
“James Snyder does not think rules apply to him,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster, during opening statements in January.
Throughout the trial, Snyder’s defense team has aimed to show the jurors that the mayor did nothing criminal, and claimed the charges came about through a lengthy investigation driven by lies told to the FBI by the mayor’s political opponents.
“This man has not been treated fairly by his government,” said defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr., during closing arguments.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, 79, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Portage Board of Works contract, and allegedly obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, 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.
Mayor Snyder's jury begins deciding his fate Wednesday morning
NWI Times
February 12, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mayor-snyder-s-jury-begins-deciding-his-fate-wednesday-morning/article_addbd634-2f3d-11e9-9c0b-6b525dcb578f.html
HAMMOND — Portage Mayor James Snyder is either a manipulative liar or a young family man caught up in a government conspiracy to bring him down, jurors were told Tuesday.
The different portraits of Snyder were presented as both the prosecution and defense presented their closing arguments in Snyder's public corruption case.
Who Snyder is and whether he accepted two bribes for personal gain and schemed to prevent paying taxes is now in the jury's hands. The 17th day of the trial ended Tuesday just after 5:30 p.m. with jurors telling the judge they wanted to begin their deliberations at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
"We are here because James Snyder does not believe rules apply to him," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster told the jury and a packed courtroom primarily filled with Snyder family members and supporters.
Koster walked the jury through the three charges and the government's evidence against him in her nearly two-hour closing argument.
Snyder is charged with obstructing the IRS from collecting some $97,000 in back payroll taxes from his business, First Financial Trust Mortgage, and some $30,000 in personal income tax.
He also allegedly took a $12,000 bribe from former co-defendant John Cortina and Scott Jurgensen, former Merrillville police officer and owner of Samson Towing to put the duo on the city's tow list. Jurgensen was an undercover agent for the FBI gathering evidence against Snyder on the charge.
Cortina pleaded guilty last month to paying Snyder the bribe. He pleaded the Fifth Amendment and did not testify. Cortina is set to be sentenced in April.
The third charge alleges Snyder took a $13,000 bribe from Steve and Bob Buha, former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, a truck dealership in Portage, in exchange for steering $1.2 million in garbage truck bids their way.
On the tax charge, Koster said Snyder acted purposely to obstruct the IRS from collecting the back taxes by lying on forms and hiding income by creating a shell company, SRC Properties LLC. Koster said Snyder diverted money to SRC so that the IRS could not levy income to pay the tax debt and then lied on forms about the existence of SRC.
"It was a piggy bank out of which James Snyder lived a more comfortable lifestyle," Koster said.
Defense attorney Neal Brackett countered the charge, saying Snyder got into the back tax situation before becoming mayor because of the economy's downturn and a collapse of the real estate market.
Brackett said Snyder, married with four children, collected a "modest income" as mayor and could not keep up with his debts. Brackett further told jurors that Snyder hid nothing and that the IRS did not do a thorough investigation.
Instead, he said, they put up a front of "smoke and mirrors" to make his client look guilty.
As for the bribery charge involving the garbage trucks, Koster said Snyder lied about the purpose of the $13,000 given to him by the Buhas, saying it was for consulting, from health care to information technology, telephones, payroll and tax issues the Buhas were facing with their failing company.
"The problem with lying is you have to remember the lies that you told. James Snyder told a lot of them," Koster said, adding Randy Reeder, the assistant street department superintendent put in charge of purchasing garbage trucks as the city moved to automated trash collection, was nothing more than a "yes man" for Snyder.
Reeder recanted incriminating testimony he gave against Snyder in grand jury testimony, in which he said he felt like Snyder's pawn and that Snyder had directed him to make sure Great Lakes Peterbilt received the contracts.
"You just don't get to retract" statements, Koster said, telling the jury they can consider what Reeder said during his grand jury testimony.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett said the charges were based on the word of former street superintendent Steve Charnetzky and were "chock full of lies."
Those lies, Bennett said, continued a federal investigation in which they "found holes in every aspect of the case."
"This man has not been treated fairly by his government," Bennett said.
As for the tow-for-pay charge, Koster said, while Snyder said he had no involvement, he directed the removal of one company to put Cortina and Jurgensen on Portage's list and was smart enough to wait several months between receiving the bribe and putting them on the list in an effort to avoid an appearance of quid pro quo.
"If it's this for that, it's a bribe in this context, even if it is a campaign contribution," Koster said, countering Snyder's claim that Cortina gave him a $2,000 campaign contribution and a $10,000 loan through his campaign committee to pay attorney fees.
Koster also defended Snyder's brother, Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder, for standing up and becoming an informant for the FBI.
"No one forced him to cooperate," she said, adding the defense has painted him as a "horrible brother" and ungrateful.
"Jon Snyder is the stronger member of the family. He takes responsibility for his actions," Koster said.
Bennett attempted to discredit Jurgensen and Cortina, saying Jurgensen is guilty of the actions, paying money to politicians to be on municipal tow lists. He also said Jurgensen received $140,000 from the federal government over recent years to cooperate in several investigations.
"He paid lots of people lots of money over the years," said Bennett, adding, "Cortina was the perfect foil for Scott Jurgensen to target Mayor Snyder."
Bennett also criticized the federal investigation for not interviewing some potential witnesses.
"I ask you to wonder about why those interviews didn't get done. Mayor Snyder has his life and liberty at stake," Bennett said.
Portage mayor's defense says charges based on lies; prosecutors say guilty verdict is deserved
Chicago Tribune
February 12, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-17-st-0213-story.html
The defense for Mayor James Snyder has not been “treated fairly” as the government brought false charges, but prosecutors say it is the mayor who wronged the citizens of Portage by allegedly taking bribes.
During closing arguments Tuesday, Snyder’s defense sought to show that he did nothing wrong and that the government took information from the mayor’s political opponents to find something to charge him with. Federal prosecutors say Snyder “didn’t think the rules applied” to him, and moved from scheme to scheme to enrich himself.
The jury will begin its deliberations Wednesday morning.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said the defense has found holes in every aspect of the prosecutors’ case.
“This man has not been treated fairly by his government,” Bennett said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said that by taking bribes and obstructing the IRS, it is the mayor who wronged Portage and its citizens of honest government.
Closing arguments came after 15 days of testimony and evidence, as prosecutors worked through a three-count indictment, but the defense worked to show the men and women of the jury that nothing criminal happened.
“We have proven James Snyder is guilty,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Cortina, who was indicted in November 2016 alongside the mayor, in January pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list.
Koster said the jury heard Cortina say that what he and Scott Jurgensen, of Samson’s Towing, was “juice money.”
Koster said Snyder, by 2016, knew he was under investigation by the FBI and IRS, so put off putting Samson’s on the tow list, but the tapes indicate they all knew it was coming.
“They were going to take Waffco off and they knew it a month in advance,” Koster said.
Bennett said the jury heard no evidence that Snyder knew the payment to be anything more than a loan from Cortina to help pay for the mayor’s legal fees. Bennett said Cortina had been a long-time friend and political supporter.
Snyder had no knowledge that $6,000 of the $12,000 came from Jurgensen, Bennett said, and that Cortina’s comments about it being a bribe are false. Bennett said $2,000 went otward Cortina’s membership in the mayor’s round table, and the $10,000 was properly documented in campaign filings as a loan.
“There’s no evidence that James Snyder ever knowingly accepted money from Scott Jurgensen,” Bennett said.
When Snyder first ran for mayor, Koster said he told people he would automate the city’s trash collection. Koster said Snyder helped steer a contract for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt, then owned by Steve and Robert Buha, for garbage trucks.
Great Lakes Peterbilt is now owned by a different firm.
Koster said Snyder put Randy Reeder, the assistant superintendent of the streets department, in charge though he lacked qualifications for the job.
“He was a yes man,” Koster said.
After getting those contracts, Koster said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company.
Koster said Great Lakes Peterbilt submitted a bid that sold the city older trucks than what other companies offered despite the specs seeking new, unused equipment.
The mayor claims that the $13,000 payment was for consulting work, Koster said, but testimony showed that Snyder was not capable of consulting on health care or information technology. Koster said no one from Great Lakes Peterbilt could produce a contract, work product or anything that showed Snyder performed any work for that payment.
“The $13,000 payment, ladies and gentlemen,” was not for consulting,” Koster said.
Bennett said the investigation was triggered by lies and the government pushed forward to find something.
Bennett said the mayor had nothing to do with the development of specs or bidding process for the garbage trucks. Bennett said Snyder told Reeder to move the automation of trash pickup forward and to do it quickly.
The defense has said the contracts went to Great Lakes Peterbilt as it was the lowest and most responsive bidder.
Koster said that Snyder ran a mortgage company and did not rack up tens of thousands of dollars that he owed the IRS.
Another mortgage firm merged with Snyder’s company, Koster said, and he allegedly set up a shell company that submitted invoices and got paid. Snyder was the only employee of the shell company, Koster said.
Snyder also had personal tax debt, Koster said, but did not tell the IRS about his shell company and its bank account.
The defense said the tax charge was nothing more than “smoke and mirrors” and that the jury wasn’t getting the “full picture.”
“There’s no evidence of intent to impede or obstruct,” said defense attorney Neil Brackett.
Portage Mayor James Snyder scheduled to be Portage chamber's featured speaker this month
NWI Times
February 12, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/portage-mayor-james-snyder-scheduled-to-be-portage-chamber-s/article_3da31187-d775-5cd2-af1f-cd5d97599923.html
PORTAGE — The mayor opted against speaking to a federal jury about public corruption charges against him, but he is scheduled to talk next week to the Portage Chamber of Commerce.
Portage Mayor James E. Snyder, who was awaiting a verdict Tuesday on bribery and tax evasion charges, was announced the same day as the featured speaker for the chamber's annual State of the City luncheon.
It wasn't clear earlier Tuesday whether Snyder will still be the mayor by the time of the chamber's Feb. 21 event.
Federal prosecutors and Snyder's defense team were scheduled Tuesday to give final arguments to a U.S. District Court jury in Hammond and let jurors deliberate over 16 days of testimony about whether Snyder is guilty of soliciting and accepting bribes for city business or illegally dodging federal taxes.
Snyder is pleading not guilty.
He would automatically be removed from office, under state law, if found guilty of any of the felony counts he faces.
The luncheon is scheduled to begin noon at Woodland Park, 2100 Willowcreek Road. The announcement states, "The February Chamber Luncheon will feature Mayor Snyder as he gives the State of the City report. ... Join us to learn about the accomplishments from 2018 and the plans for 2019."
Federal prosecutors have portrayed Snyder as a schemer who is guilty of hiding income from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to avoid paying personal and business taxes and funneling more than $1 million in city contracts to local businesses in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in bribes.
Snyder's lawyers have responded that the government's case is built on false evidence and an investigation prompted by Snyder's vengeful political opponents.
Snyder has chosen not to run for re-election this year.
NWI Times
February 13, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/no-verdict-yet-in-portage-mayor-james-snyder-s-public/article_aceae5d7-d283-51cd-9836-ed88c4ca4638.html
HAMMOND — Jurors in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption case deliberated for nearly six hours Wednesday before being sent home for the night.
Jury deliberations will continue at 9 a.m. Thursday in what will be the 19th day of the trial.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 on three charges. His trial began Jan. 14.
The first count against Snyder alleges he solicited two bank checks, for $10,000 and $2,000, from former co-defendant Cortina to put Cortina and his business partner, Scott Jurgensen, owner of Samson Towing, on the city's towing list.
Snyder claimed $2,000 was a campaign donation, and $10,000 came from Cortina as loans to pay Snyder's attorney bills.
In transcripts of undercover recordings, Cortina refers to the money as "juice money" he paid Snyder in an effort to get on the city's towing list. During his plea hearing Friday, Cortina told the court he perceived the money to be a bribe.
Cortina, who took the Fifth Amendment and did not testify during Snyder's trial, pleaded guilty last month to paying the bribe.
The second count against Snyder alleged he accepted $13,000 from a Portage company in exchange for favorable contracts with the city. Snyder was alleged to have solicited the $13,000 from Great Lakes Peterbilt days after the company received contracts worth more than $1.25 million for garbage trucks.
The third count against Snyder involves his private business operations with a mortgage company he previously managed. The count alleges, among other things, that Snyder, who managed the company, collected but failed to pay to the federal government employee payroll taxes. The alleged behavior dates back to 2005. He was also accused of obstructing the IRS from collection some $30,000 in back personal income taxes.
Prosecutors said Snyder created a company through which he funneled money to hide it from the IRS and failed to file appropriate tax forms.
No verdict in Portage mayor's corruption trial; jurors to resume deliberations Thursday
Chicago Tribune
February 13, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-verdict-st-0214-story.html
A federal jury went home at 4 p.m. Wednesday without a verdict in Portage Mayor James Snyder’s public corruption trial.
The jury is expected to return Thursday morning. The 12 jurors deliberated for roughly seven hours Wednesday before Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen called prosecutors, Snyder and his defense attorneys into the courtroom to tell them the jury would be recessed.
“I’m going to bring the jury in and excuse them. For the day,” Van Bokkelen said.
Snyder, 38, was charged with allegedly taking a $12,000 bribe to ensure a tow operator partnered with a longtime friend and political supporter of the mayor to get on the city’s tow list; steering city contracts for garbage trucks to a firm in exchange for a $13,000 payout; and using a shell company to hide income and assets from the IRS.
Snyder was not in the federal courthouse until shortly before the jury recessed for the day. The mayor came into court with his wife, Deborah, and defense attorneys.
The jury began deliberating Wednesday morning at federal court in Hammond, 18 days after Snyder’s trial began. The 12 jurors heard 15 days of testimony and evidence in the case.
Federal prosecutors have said that Snyder moved from scheme to scheme to enrich himself. Prosecutors say he hid money from the IRS to avoid the government from collecting all the money it was owed; saw a chance to net a kickback by seeing a truck dealership owned by political backers received city business; and masked a bribe as a campaign donation, knowing he was under federal investigation.
“James Snyder does not think rules apply to him,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster, during opening statements in January.
Throughout the trial, Snyder’s defense team has aimed to show the jurors that the mayor did nothing criminal, and claimed the charges came about through a lengthy investigation driven by lies told to the FBI by the mayor’s political opponents.
“This man has not been treated fairly by his government,” said defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr., during closing arguments.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, 79, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Portage Board of Works contract, and allegedly obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, 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.
Mayor Snyder's jury begins deciding his fate Wednesday morning
NWI Times
February 12, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mayor-snyder-s-jury-begins-deciding-his-fate-wednesday-morning/article_addbd634-2f3d-11e9-9c0b-6b525dcb578f.html
HAMMOND — Portage Mayor James Snyder is either a manipulative liar or a young family man caught up in a government conspiracy to bring him down, jurors were told Tuesday.
The different portraits of Snyder were presented as both the prosecution and defense presented their closing arguments in Snyder's public corruption case.
Who Snyder is and whether he accepted two bribes for personal gain and schemed to prevent paying taxes is now in the jury's hands. The 17th day of the trial ended Tuesday just after 5:30 p.m. with jurors telling the judge they wanted to begin their deliberations at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
"We are here because James Snyder does not believe rules apply to him," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster told the jury and a packed courtroom primarily filled with Snyder family members and supporters.
Koster walked the jury through the three charges and the government's evidence against him in her nearly two-hour closing argument.
Snyder is charged with obstructing the IRS from collecting some $97,000 in back payroll taxes from his business, First Financial Trust Mortgage, and some $30,000 in personal income tax.
He also allegedly took a $12,000 bribe from former co-defendant John Cortina and Scott Jurgensen, former Merrillville police officer and owner of Samson Towing to put the duo on the city's tow list. Jurgensen was an undercover agent for the FBI gathering evidence against Snyder on the charge.
Cortina pleaded guilty last month to paying Snyder the bribe. He pleaded the Fifth Amendment and did not testify. Cortina is set to be sentenced in April.
The third charge alleges Snyder took a $13,000 bribe from Steve and Bob Buha, former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, a truck dealership in Portage, in exchange for steering $1.2 million in garbage truck bids their way.
On the tax charge, Koster said Snyder acted purposely to obstruct the IRS from collecting the back taxes by lying on forms and hiding income by creating a shell company, SRC Properties LLC. Koster said Snyder diverted money to SRC so that the IRS could not levy income to pay the tax debt and then lied on forms about the existence of SRC.
"It was a piggy bank out of which James Snyder lived a more comfortable lifestyle," Koster said.
Defense attorney Neal Brackett countered the charge, saying Snyder got into the back tax situation before becoming mayor because of the economy's downturn and a collapse of the real estate market.
Brackett said Snyder, married with four children, collected a "modest income" as mayor and could not keep up with his debts. Brackett further told jurors that Snyder hid nothing and that the IRS did not do a thorough investigation.
Instead, he said, they put up a front of "smoke and mirrors" to make his client look guilty.
As for the bribery charge involving the garbage trucks, Koster said Snyder lied about the purpose of the $13,000 given to him by the Buhas, saying it was for consulting, from health care to information technology, telephones, payroll and tax issues the Buhas were facing with their failing company.
"The problem with lying is you have to remember the lies that you told. James Snyder told a lot of them," Koster said, adding Randy Reeder, the assistant street department superintendent put in charge of purchasing garbage trucks as the city moved to automated trash collection, was nothing more than a "yes man" for Snyder.
Reeder recanted incriminating testimony he gave against Snyder in grand jury testimony, in which he said he felt like Snyder's pawn and that Snyder had directed him to make sure Great Lakes Peterbilt received the contracts.
"You just don't get to retract" statements, Koster said, telling the jury they can consider what Reeder said during his grand jury testimony.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett said the charges were based on the word of former street superintendent Steve Charnetzky and were "chock full of lies."
Those lies, Bennett said, continued a federal investigation in which they "found holes in every aspect of the case."
"This man has not been treated fairly by his government," Bennett said.
As for the tow-for-pay charge, Koster said, while Snyder said he had no involvement, he directed the removal of one company to put Cortina and Jurgensen on Portage's list and was smart enough to wait several months between receiving the bribe and putting them on the list in an effort to avoid an appearance of quid pro quo.
"If it's this for that, it's a bribe in this context, even if it is a campaign contribution," Koster said, countering Snyder's claim that Cortina gave him a $2,000 campaign contribution and a $10,000 loan through his campaign committee to pay attorney fees.
Koster also defended Snyder's brother, Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder, for standing up and becoming an informant for the FBI.
"No one forced him to cooperate," she said, adding the defense has painted him as a "horrible brother" and ungrateful.
"Jon Snyder is the stronger member of the family. He takes responsibility for his actions," Koster said.
Bennett attempted to discredit Jurgensen and Cortina, saying Jurgensen is guilty of the actions, paying money to politicians to be on municipal tow lists. He also said Jurgensen received $140,000 from the federal government over recent years to cooperate in several investigations.
"He paid lots of people lots of money over the years," said Bennett, adding, "Cortina was the perfect foil for Scott Jurgensen to target Mayor Snyder."
Bennett also criticized the federal investigation for not interviewing some potential witnesses.
"I ask you to wonder about why those interviews didn't get done. Mayor Snyder has his life and liberty at stake," Bennett said.
Portage mayor's defense says charges based on lies; prosecutors say guilty verdict is deserved
Chicago Tribune
February 12, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-17-st-0213-story.html
The defense for Mayor James Snyder has not been “treated fairly” as the government brought false charges, but prosecutors say it is the mayor who wronged the citizens of Portage by allegedly taking bribes.
During closing arguments Tuesday, Snyder’s defense sought to show that he did nothing wrong and that the government took information from the mayor’s political opponents to find something to charge him with. Federal prosecutors say Snyder “didn’t think the rules applied” to him, and moved from scheme to scheme to enrich himself.
The jury will begin its deliberations Wednesday morning.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said the defense has found holes in every aspect of the prosecutors’ case.
“This man has not been treated fairly by his government,” Bennett said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said that by taking bribes and obstructing the IRS, it is the mayor who wronged Portage and its citizens of honest government.
Closing arguments came after 15 days of testimony and evidence, as prosecutors worked through a three-count indictment, but the defense worked to show the men and women of the jury that nothing criminal happened.
“We have proven James Snyder is guilty,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Cortina, who was indicted in November 2016 alongside the mayor, in January pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list.
Koster said the jury heard Cortina say that what he and Scott Jurgensen, of Samson’s Towing, was “juice money.”
Koster said Snyder, by 2016, knew he was under investigation by the FBI and IRS, so put off putting Samson’s on the tow list, but the tapes indicate they all knew it was coming.
“They were going to take Waffco off and they knew it a month in advance,” Koster said.
Bennett said the jury heard no evidence that Snyder knew the payment to be anything more than a loan from Cortina to help pay for the mayor’s legal fees. Bennett said Cortina had been a long-time friend and political supporter.
Snyder had no knowledge that $6,000 of the $12,000 came from Jurgensen, Bennett said, and that Cortina’s comments about it being a bribe are false. Bennett said $2,000 went otward Cortina’s membership in the mayor’s round table, and the $10,000 was properly documented in campaign filings as a loan.
“There’s no evidence that James Snyder ever knowingly accepted money from Scott Jurgensen,” Bennett said.
When Snyder first ran for mayor, Koster said he told people he would automate the city’s trash collection. Koster said Snyder helped steer a contract for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt, then owned by Steve and Robert Buha, for garbage trucks.
Great Lakes Peterbilt is now owned by a different firm.
Koster said Snyder put Randy Reeder, the assistant superintendent of the streets department, in charge though he lacked qualifications for the job.
“He was a yes man,” Koster said.
After getting those contracts, Koster said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company.
Koster said Great Lakes Peterbilt submitted a bid that sold the city older trucks than what other companies offered despite the specs seeking new, unused equipment.
The mayor claims that the $13,000 payment was for consulting work, Koster said, but testimony showed that Snyder was not capable of consulting on health care or information technology. Koster said no one from Great Lakes Peterbilt could produce a contract, work product or anything that showed Snyder performed any work for that payment.
“The $13,000 payment, ladies and gentlemen,” was not for consulting,” Koster said.
Bennett said the investigation was triggered by lies and the government pushed forward to find something.
Bennett said the mayor had nothing to do with the development of specs or bidding process for the garbage trucks. Bennett said Snyder told Reeder to move the automation of trash pickup forward and to do it quickly.
The defense has said the contracts went to Great Lakes Peterbilt as it was the lowest and most responsive bidder.
Koster said that Snyder ran a mortgage company and did not rack up tens of thousands of dollars that he owed the IRS.
Another mortgage firm merged with Snyder’s company, Koster said, and he allegedly set up a shell company that submitted invoices and got paid. Snyder was the only employee of the shell company, Koster said.
Snyder also had personal tax debt, Koster said, but did not tell the IRS about his shell company and its bank account.
The defense said the tax charge was nothing more than “smoke and mirrors” and that the jury wasn’t getting the “full picture.”
“There’s no evidence of intent to impede or obstruct,” said defense attorney Neil Brackett.
Portage Mayor James Snyder scheduled to be Portage chamber's featured speaker this month
NWI Times
February 12, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/portage-mayor-james-snyder-scheduled-to-be-portage-chamber-s/article_3da31187-d775-5cd2-af1f-cd5d97599923.html
PORTAGE — The mayor opted against speaking to a federal jury about public corruption charges against him, but he is scheduled to talk next week to the Portage Chamber of Commerce.
Portage Mayor James E. Snyder, who was awaiting a verdict Tuesday on bribery and tax evasion charges, was announced the same day as the featured speaker for the chamber's annual State of the City luncheon.
It wasn't clear earlier Tuesday whether Snyder will still be the mayor by the time of the chamber's Feb. 21 event.
Federal prosecutors and Snyder's defense team were scheduled Tuesday to give final arguments to a U.S. District Court jury in Hammond and let jurors deliberate over 16 days of testimony about whether Snyder is guilty of soliciting and accepting bribes for city business or illegally dodging federal taxes.
Snyder is pleading not guilty.
He would automatically be removed from office, under state law, if found guilty of any of the felony counts he faces.
The luncheon is scheduled to begin noon at Woodland Park, 2100 Willowcreek Road. The announcement states, "The February Chamber Luncheon will feature Mayor Snyder as he gives the State of the City report. ... Join us to learn about the accomplishments from 2018 and the plans for 2019."
Federal prosecutors have portrayed Snyder as a schemer who is guilty of hiding income from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to avoid paying personal and business taxes and funneling more than $1 million in city contracts to local businesses in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in bribes.
Snyder's lawyers have responded that the government's case is built on false evidence and an investigation prompted by Snyder's vengeful political opponents.
Snyder has chosen not to run for re-election this year.
Portage mayor's public corruption case will likely be in hands of jurors on Tuesday afternoon
NWI Times
February 11, 2019
HAMMOND — After 15 days of testimony, jurors will likely begin deliberations in the public corruption trial of Portage Mayor James Snyder sometime Tuesday afternoon.
Following former Great Lakes Peterbilt's owner Bob Buha taking the Fifth Amendment early Monday afternoon, Snyder's defense team rested its case after calling only five witnesses.
Two of Buha's former employees, sales manager Scott McIntyre and controller Joseph Searles, testified Monday regarding the charge that Snyder took a $13,000 bribe from Buha and his brother Steve, in return for steering $1.2 million in garbage truck bids to the company.
Snyder contends he received the $13,000 from the Buhas in exchange for offering consulting services.
However, Searles said while he prepared a document at the request of the Buhas outlining the benefits of Snyder's consulting services, he never saw any contracts, documents supporting the payment or work product. The document was not admitted as evidence.
Searles also said Snyder recommended an attorney to the Buhas to help with tax problems.
Snyder has also been charged with accepting a $12,000 bribe from former co-defendant John Cortina in a pay-for-tow scheme and for tax obstruction regarding his personal and business taxes.
Cortina, who did not testify in the case, pleaded guilty in January to paying Snyder $12,000 in return for putting himself and his tow company partner, Samson Towing, on the city's tow list. Samson Towing is owned by former Merrillville police officer Scott Jurgensen, who went undercover for the FBI, wearing a wire to gather information.
Snyder also told the court Monday that he will not testify in his own defense.
On Monday, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen ruled that additional undercover tapes recorded by Snyder's brother, Jon Snyder, the Porter County assessor, who also acted as an undercover FBI agent, would not be admitted into evidence.
Van Bokkelen also ruled against prosecutors, saying they could not amend the indictment which included allegations that the alleged bribe from the Buhas included a road widening project. Testimony was never introduced on that allegation.
Jurors will likely hear their instructions beginning at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, followed by closing arguments by both sides in the case. Following closing arguments, jurors will begin deliberations.
Portage mayor declines to testify as corruption trial nears end
Chicago Tribune
February 11, 2019
Indicted Portage Mayor James Snyder declined to take the stand Monday as his weeks-long public corruption trial nears its end.
Snyder’s defense attorneys rested their case Monday afternoon and closing arguments are set for Tuesday before jurors begin their deliberations. Before 15 days of testimony and evidence wrapped up, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen asked Snyder if he had been advised of his right to testify in his own defense before declining to take the stand.
“Yes,” Snyder said.
Van Bokkelen asked if it was his decision not to testify.
“Yes, it is my decision not to testify,” Snyder said.
Snyder said he was “upset” at the judge’s ruling to not allow the jury to hear undercover recordings his brother, Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder, made that the mayor’s defense attorneys argued would document his innocence.
“It seems like there’s two different trials going on,” Snyder said.
Van Bokkelen denied a motion to allow Snyder’s attorneys to play undercover recordings that were not played by federal prosecutors earlier in the trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said the tapes should not be played, and it was the defense’s aim to get Snyder’s words played without opening him up to cross examination.
“They’re really trying to get in the words of James Snyder,” Benson said.
On the last day of evidence and testimony, jurors heard from two now-former employees of Great Lakes Peterbilt and an IRS agent.
The defense called Robert Buha, the former owner of Great Lakes Peterbilt, which allegedly bribed Snyder to win city contracts to sell Portage five garbage trucks, but he answered few questions.
Buha testified that he now owns a small business, and that he was part owner of Great Lakes Peterbilt from 1992 to 2014. Buha then invoked the Fifth Amendment, which protects his from making potentially self-incriminating statements, and answered no other questions.
Federal prosecutors claim that Snyder steered a city contract to one firm and netted himself a $13,000 kickback.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but would up allegedly 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.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
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.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from Kustom Auto owner John Cortina, a Portage businessman, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, 79, 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.
The defense has argued that $10,000 of that payment was a loan to the mayor’s campaign committee to help him cover legal costs, and the remaining $2,000 was membership to a roundtable group. The defense has said the mayor had no knowledge part of that money came from “Individual A” and was in no way a bribe.
Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
Witness in Portage mayor's bribery case says he wants to recant grand jury testimony
Chicago Tribune
February 08, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-15-st-0209-story.html
A Portage employee said Friday he wanted to recant testimony he gave a federal grand jury that implicated Mayor James Snyder in an alleged scheme to steer a contract to one company in exchange for a $13,000 payoff.
Randy Reeder, the city’s assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation, said that he “misspoke” when he testified before a grand jury on two occasions in 2016, and wanted to recant his statements made under oath. Reeder, on the 15th day of Snyder’s public corruption trial, wanted to take back statements he made about Snyder’s involvement in the purchases of five garbage trucks.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from Kustom Auto owner John Cortina and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Reeder said he had “misspoken in error” when he told the grand jury that Snyder told him to put a 150-day deliver period in the bid specifications for garbage trucks.
Reeder said when he told the grand jury he was a “pawn” for Snyder that the statement was not accurate.
“I would like to recant that,” Reeder said.
Reeder said he also misspoke when he talked about preparing the bids specifications. Reeder said that it’s common to narrowly tailor specifications so the city gets the equipment it wants.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked about grand jury testimony where Reeder had agreed that the evidence showed Snyder wanted the contract to go to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Reeder said that was not correct.
Koster said many of those statements are incriminating for Snyder, and retracting things he said in the grand jury is helpful to the defense.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked if Reeder felt afraid when he spoke with federal investigators during a meeting.
Reeder said he was afraid because he didn’t think investigators would believe him and they said he could be incarcerated.
Koster said that during that meeting, where Reeder had an attorney, that he took it as a threat when federal investigators told him it was a crime to lie to the FBI.
“Yes,” Reeder said.
Koster asked if Reeder knew it was a crime to lie under oath.
“Yes,” Reeder said.
Koster asked if Reeder considered that a threat.
“No,” Reeder said.
Federal prosecutors claim that Snyder steered a city contract to one firm and netted himself a $13,000 kickback.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up allegedly 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.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
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.
Reeder said when he was hired as assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation, one of his key functions was looking at automating trash and recycling pickup. Reeder said he talked to neighboring cities about how their programs work, looked at pricing for refuse containers, and rewrote Portage’s trash ordinance.
Reeder said that the mayor did not have any specific involvement in the bidding process, and he was only kept in the loop as the process move forward.
During the second round of garbage truck purchases at the end of 2013, Great Lakes Peterbilt again won the contract, and federal prosecutors say sold the city a two-year old truck despite Portage’s own specifications calling for new, unused and current factory production model.
Reeder said all the bids were awarded to the lowest and most responsive bidder. He said he thought the equipment only need to be new and unused, which the truck that had been sitting on the lot was.
Koster asked if Reeder told the Board of Works one of the trucks was two years old.
Reeder said he did not.
As the defense began making its case Wednesday, they first sought to refute allegations that Snyder took a bribe to get a company on the Portage’s tow list.
Cortina, 79, 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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
The trial continues Monday in Hammond’s federal court.
UPDATE: Snyder witness wants to recant incriminating grand jury testimony; says he was threatened by government
NWI Times
February 08, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-snyder-witness-wants-to-recant-incriminating-grand-jury-testimony/article_d77af206-8e56-5ee9-8e05-3042702abf46.html
HAMMOND — Portage Assistant Street Superintendent Randy Reeder said he was under severe emotional distress when he told a grand jury he felt like he was Mayor James Snyder's pawn.
Reeder is at the center of a charge that Snyder took a $13,000 bribe from Steve and Bob Buha, owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt at the time, in exchange for steering more than $1 million in garbage truck purchases. Reeder said Friday he wants to recant what he told the grand jury in early 2016.
"I said I felt like a pawn," Reeder said of his grand jury testimony.
"You told the grand jury, 'I felt like Snyder's pawn,'" Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said.
"I want to recant that," Reeder answered.
Reeder spent Friday on the stand under direct questioning by Snyder attorney Jayna Cacioppo and cross-examination by Koster.
During that questioning, Reeder testified Snyder was not involved in the bidding process nor did Snyder direct him to make sure the contracts went to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Reeder's testimony was in direct conflict with previous testimony of former Street Superintendent Steve Charnetsky and FBI agents who claimed Snyder chose Reeder to work on the project and to make sure the Buhas received the bids.
Reeder said he didn't know of a relationship between the Buhas and Snyder nor that Snyder lunched with the Buhas a day before one of the rounds of bids was to be opened.
In that direct questioning, Cacioppo asked Reeder if he felt threatened by the government and if his grand jury testimony was accurate.
"There were a few things I disagree with," Reeder said of his grand jury testimony.
"Yes. I was afraid the government would not believe me in my statements and I would be incarcerated," Reeder said of his state of mind at the time.
Reeder also told jurors "multiple layers of emotional stress" were going on in his life at the time due to his daughter's diagnosis and treatment for leukemia.
Under cross-examination, Koster asked what corrections he wanted to make.
Reeder said he "misspoke in error" to the grand jury about Snyder knowing about the 150-day delivery requirement for the first round of bidding for the garbage trucks.
"I'd like to change that. He didn't know," Reeder said, adding there were a couple of other items he wanted to change.
After reviewing his grand jury testimony from 2016 during a lunch break, Reeder said he wanted to recant testimony in which he said evidence pointed to Snyder wanting the contracts to go to Great Lakes Peterbilt and that Snyder wanted the deal done as quickly as possible.
Reeder said he felt threatened during an interview with Koster and FBI agents.
"They said if I don't come clean for what I know ... I would not see my family and go to jail," Reeder recounted.
Koster asked him if that was when investigators informed him it was a crime to lie to law enforcement.
"Yes," Reeder replied.
"It's a crime to lie under oath. Do you take that as a threat?" Koster then asked.
"No," Reeder said. "It was the way the government provided that information and the emotional stress I was going through. I misspoke in those statements."
Koster replied that the only statements Reeder wanted to recant were those that were incriminating Snyder.
During continued testimony, Reeder denied Snyder directed him to make sure Great Lakes Peterbilt received the contracts. He told jurors he spoke with Snyder only to keep him updated on the process.
"I never discussed that with the mayor about tailoring the spec," he said while talking about the second round of bids, which prosecutors allege were aimed to make sure Great Lakes Peterbilt could meet them.
In that round, it is alleged the specifications were written so that the company could sell the city a 2-year-old truck while bid requirements included verbiage that the trucks must be new, unused and of the current model year.
Reeder said the truck in question, which allowed the Great Lakes Peterbilt bid to be the lowest, was new and unused, but that he ignored the requirement it be of the current model year.
UPDATE: Towing contracts 'no big deal,' Portage police chief tells jury at Mayor Snyder's trial
NWI Times
February 07, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-towing-contracts-no-big-deal-portage-police-chief-tells/article_cac19e7f-032e-5c12-83fd-d8ca86689bdf.html
HAMMOND — Dealing with towing companies wasn't one of his priorities when Troy Williams became Portage's police chief in 2012, Williams told jurors Thursday morning.
Williams said dealing with tow companies was "no big deal," so he left it to others in his administration.
Williams testified Thursday morning in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial. Snyder is facing two bribery counts and one tax obstruction charge. The trial is in its 14th day.
Snyder has been charged with accepting a $12,000 bribe from John Cortina for placing Cortina and his towing partner, Samson Towing, on the city's list. Samson was placed on the list less than a month after Waffco was removed. Cortina had partnered with Ambassador prior to Samson.
Cortina, Snyder's former co-defendant, pleaded guilty last month to paying Snyder the bribe.
Williams said he believed Waffco Towing had a storage yard in the city, on Old Porter Road, when he first became chief. It wasn't until January 2016, when a fellow city employee was arrested for drunken driving and Snyder and former Director of Administration Joe Calhoun went to retrieve that employee's car, that he learned Waffco had closed that lot.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson questioned Williams about why he gave Ambassador four to five chances to correct issues before removing them from the city's tow list, while not calling Waffco to advise them of the issue before a letter was sent terminating the tow company. Benson also questioned Williams about the city's tow agreement not requiring a storage lot within city limits.
Waffco owner Kevin Farthing testified earlier he had an indoor storage yard on U.S. 6, which opened in 2015.
Williams said he learned of the U.S. 6 lot and went by it several times but believed it was closed. He also testified it did not have an outdoor secure lot, and the building appeared too small to store a sufficient number of vehicles.
Williams told jurors while it wasn't in the written agreement, the expectation of having a lot in Portage was discussed with a Waffco representative and other tow company owners in January 2016.
Williams said the decision to remove Waffco from the list was made by himself, Calhoun and Snyder.
The defense played an audiotape of an Aug. 9, 2016, meeting between Williams and Samson owner, Scott Jurgensen, who worked as an undercover agent for the FBI.
In the tape, Williams can be heard telling Jurgensen Waffco was removed because of a lack of a yard in the city.
In addition to Williams, Snyder's campaign treasurer Kenard Taylor told jurors $10,000 of the $12,000 Snyder received from Cortina was considered a loan and listed as such on campaign finance documents.
Assistant Street Department Superintendent Randy Reeder took the stand near the end of the day and is expected to continue testifying Friday.
Portage chief rebuffs claims that mayor had one tow firm bumped from city list to make way for another that paid bribe
Chicago Tribune
February 07, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-14-st-0708-story.html
Portage’s police chief rebuffed the idea that a tow operator was removed from the city’s tow list to make room for another company that allegedly bribed Mayor James Snyder.
Portage Police Chief Troy Williams on Thursday said it was a “collective decision” to remove Waffco, a Lake Station firm, after city officials found the company didn’t have a satisfactory yard in the city. Federal prosecutors aimed to show that the company met all the city’s requirements and was removed to open a spot for John Cortina of Kustom Auto Body, and Scott Jurgensen, of Samson’s Towing, after they gave Snyder an alleged $12,000 bribe.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked who made the decision to terminate Waffco.
“I would say it was more a collective decision,” Williams said.
Cacioppo asked if Williams was ever directed by the mayor to remove Waffco from the tow list.
“No,” Williams said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson asked about the decision to get rid of Waffco, and if the mayor made the final call.
“There were conversations,” Williams said. “I was in agreement with it.”
The mayor had the authority to make that call, Benson asked.
“Yes,” Williams said.
Benson showed Williams a copy of the Portage Police Department’s vehicle release form that listed Waffco’s address in Lake Station.
Williams said it was a clerical form and he “wasn’t familiar with every form.”
Benson asked if anyone had complained about not being able to find Waffco’s yard.
“Not that I recall,” Williams said.
Kevin Farthing, owner of Waffco Towing in Lake Station, testified Tuesday that 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.
On July 20, 2016, Farthing said he received a letter from Joe Calhoun, the city’s then director of administration, informing him the towing contract was going to end because Waffco didn’t have a yard in Portage.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Cacioppo asked Williams about when Cortina had previously partnered with Ambassador, which was later removed from Portage’s tow list in 2015.
Williams said the department had complaints about the company arriving late, not adequately cleaning scenes and drivers not dressing appropriately.
Cacioppo asked if Snyder could have told Williams to keep Ambassador on the list.
“Yes,” Williams said.
Benson said that even though Williams had repeated complaints about Ambassador, he continued to give them another chance unlike Waffco.
Benson said the city told Waffco it was being taken off the list for not having a yard in Portage even though the written towing agreement doesn’t say they needed that.
Federal prosecutors rested their case Wednesday after presenting evidence of Snyder’s alleged schemes for 11 days.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but would up allegedly steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt, which was then owned by Robert and Steve Buha. Prosecutors say the deal netted Snyder a $13,000 kickback.
Great Lakes Peterbilt is now owned by a different firm.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
UPDATE: John Cortina refused payments for city and personal services, Portage police chief tells jurors
NWI Times
February 06, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-john-cortina-refused-payments-for-city-and-personal-services/article_bb59e823-c974-5d06-8611-7d8bc984d8f8.html
HAMMOND — John Cortina may have complained on undercover audiotape recordings that Portage officials continued to "squeeze" him for free city and personal services, but that is far from the truth, Police Chief Troy Williams testified Wednesday afternoon.
Williams was the first witness for the defense in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial.
Prosecuting attorneys rested the government's case just after lunch and turned the case over to Snyder's six-member defense team as the trial continued into its 13th day.
"He was always asking if there was something he could do," Williams said about work Cortina did on three city vehicles, adding Williams offered to have the city pay for the painting of two Humvees and a prisoner transport van.
Williams said Cortina, through his Kustom Auto Body business, was one of several Portage businesses which donated or deeply discounted services to the city.
Cortina was Snyder's co-defendant. Charges allege Cortina paid Snyder a $12,000 bribe to get himself and his partner, Samson Towing, owned by FBI undercover informant Scott Jurgensen, on the city's tow list. Cortina pleaded guilty in January to paying the bribe.
Snyder contends the $12,000 was a combination of a $2,000 political donation and a $10,000 loan.
In addition to the alleged tow-for-pay charge, Snyder is also charged with a second count of bribery in the awarding of contracts for city trash trucks in exchange for $13,000 and tax obstruction.
Williams said he also offered to pay Cortina for work on his wife's van, but Cortina refused payment. Instead, Williams said, his wife sent pizza and soft drinks to the business the next day in appreciation for the work.
Williams, who will continue on the stand Thursday morning, also denied knowledge of Cortina's claim that Cortina paid $1,100 to put new wheels and tires on a truck driven by Portage police Sgt. Ross Haynes, who was assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service in 2016.
It is still uncertain whether Cortina will testify. Snyder's team has issued him a subpoena, but Cortina's attorney, Kevin Milner, filed a motion to quash the subpoena, saying testifying could violate Cortina's Fifth Amendment rights regarding self-incrimination.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo also began questioning Williams about the city's tow policy and his interactions with Waffco Towing.
Waffco owner Kevin Farthing testified previously he was removed from the city's tow list in July 2016 without warning and for no cause.
About a month later, Samson Towing took Waffco's spot on the tow list.
After prosecutors rested their cases, the defense team immediately sought an acquittal, as is customary. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen requested written briefs on the motion, saying he will rule in the future.
Government rests, defense calls first witness in Portage mayor's bribery trial
Chicago Tribune
February 06, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-thirteen-st-0207-story.html
Federal prosecutors rested their case Wednesday against Portage Mayor James Snyder as the defense called its first witness.
Portage Police Chief Troy Williams, dressed in his department uniform, took the stand Wednesday afternoon at the Hammond federal courthouse as the defense’s first witness.
Attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked if Snyder directed Williams to take police department vehicles to Kustom Auto Body, owned by John Cortina, to have work done.
“Not at all,” Williams said.
Williams testified for roughly an hour Wednesday after the government finished presenting its case on the 13th day of Snyder’s jury trial.
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. Cortina was not called as one of the government’s witnesses.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case by finishing testimony from Kevin Farthing, owner of Waffco Towing in Lake Station, who they say was bumped from the Portage tow list after another firm gave the mayor a $12,000 bribe.
The government also recalled an IRS agent who helped investigate campaign fiances in the case.
Williams then testified for the defense that he met Snyder around 2010 or 2011, and he agreed to support Snyder in his 2011 mayoral campaign. Williams donated about $300 to Snyder, he said.
“I wanted to see a change,” Williams said.
Williams later became police chief in 2012. Towing was not a major focus for Williams when he took over the role, he said, instead leaving day-to-day towing operations to a major in the department. Williams said he would step in if a new tow firm came was signed on.
Williams and the mayor had a say on who was on the tow list, he said, but the agreements they had with the companies were “nonbinding” and were “at will.”
Multiple businesses would offer services or help to the police department for free or at discounted rates, including Cortina’s, Williams said. Cortina was friendly and asked “hey, is there anything I can do for you? Let me know,” Williams said.
Cortina painted vehicles for the department, including a prisoner transport van and a Humvee, according to Williams. Cacioppo asked if Williams offered to pay Cortina for the work he did.
“I’m certain that I did,” Williams said. Had Cortina submitted an invoice, “we’d be happy to pay it,” he said.
A department vehicle used for undercover and surveillance had “flashy” rims, Williams said. The chief called Cortina to ask who could get those changed, and Cortina told him to bring the vehicle to Kustom Auto Body, Williams said.
Cacioppo asked if Williams asked Cortina to do the work for free.
“Never,” Williams said.
Williams said he brought a personal vehicle to Cortina once. Williams’ wife’s vehicle had “rust spots” on it. The chief said he chose to bring the vehicle to Cortina because he knew he did good work and was a local business.
Cacioppo asked if Williams and his wife offered to pay for the work.
“Absolutely we did,” Williams said.
When Cortina “refused to take payment,” Williams said his wife sent pizzas and pop to the business the next day.
Before the defense called their first witness, Vivek Hadley, another attorney on Snyder’s defense team, made arguments for a judgement of acquittal. Hadley argued that some evidence was improperly admitted and that the government had not proved its case.
“We do not believe the government has shown quid pro quo,” Hadley said.
Hadley argued that prosecutors had not shown intent and had stretched the bounds of the statutes that Snyder is charged with so far that any campaign contribution could be considered illegal.
“A political contribution can be a bribe,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said.
Benson argued that there was an agreement with the mayor that Cortina would get on the Portage tow list, and Waffco would get kicked off.
Snyder was in a “terrible financial situation,” Benson said. When Snyder received $12,000 from Cortina that was designated as a campaign contribution and as a loan, Snyder went and paid his attorney, Benson said.
“That’s motive. He needed the money,” Benson said.
Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen took the acquittal motion under advisement.
Portage officials 'squeeze everybody,' Snyder's co-defendant says on secret audio recording
NWI Times
2 hours ago
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/portage-officials-squeeze-everybody-snyder-s-co-defendant-says-on/article_567dd015-96d8-5873-a594-315a7f281b73.html
HAMMOND — Portage Mayor James Snyder's co-defendant John Cortina could be heard complaining in a secret recording that Portage officials "squeeze everybody." The audio was played for the jury in Snyder's public corruption trial Tuesday.
In the secret recording by Cortina's partner, Scott Jurgensen, also an undercover agent for the FBI, Cortina complains to Jurgensen that he had to do free work on the car of Police Chief Troy Williams' wife, bought hundreds of dollars of fireworks for Snyder and former Director of Administration Joe Calhoun and paid $1,100 to put new tires and rims on a car used by Portage police Officer Ross Haynes, who had been assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service, to remain on the city's tow list.
In another recording, Snyder was adamant that Cortina seek legal counsel after Cortina's business was raided by the FBI.
On secretly recorded audiotapes introduced during the 12th day of Snyder's trial Tuesday, Snyder could be heard encouraging Cortina and his wife, Margaret, to get Cortina legal representation. Snyder even offered to drive Cortina to an attorney's office if necessary.
Cortina, who was indicted along with Snyder in November 2016, pleaded guilty to one count of paying Snyder a $12,000 bribe in a pay-for-tow scheme.
Snyder has contended Cortina donated $2,000 to his campaign committee and loaned him $10,000 to pay legal fees.
Government prosecutors, during testimony by retired FBI agent Donald Cooley, introduced the tapes and evidence they believe indicate the payment from Cortina to Snyder was a bribe to get on the city's tow list. Cortina and Jurgensen were put on the city's tow list about six months after Cortina gave Snyder the $12,000 in January 2016.
Among audiotapes introduced Tuesday were ones secretly recorded by Snyder's brother, Jon Snyder, who worked with the FBI during the investigation. The conversation Jon Snyder recorded took place in James Snyder's home and included the brothers and the Cortinas. It took place Nov. 10, 2016, after FBI agents executed search warrants throughout the Region, including Cortina's business, Kustom Auto Body, the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the home of former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, who was later convicted on separate bribery charges.
At the time, they were concerned Cortina had been caught up in the Buncich investigation.
"But they don't see here, here they know that when you work for the city, most of the time you gotta give favors to get the job from the city. They know that," Cortina is heard saying in the recording.
"You just can't say that," James Snyder replied.
"You can't say it that way. But, but we're stupid if we don't say amongst ourselves what, what's going on," Cortina says.
"And hence, hence Margaret, he needs an attorney because of the way he talks," James Snyder said on the tape.
James Snyder is also heard telling those in the conversation, "It's not like he gave me cash" and "I wrote on it, 'Loan.'"
Kevin Farthing, owner of Waffco Towing testified throughout the afternoon.
Farthing testified his company had been on the city tow list for 18 years before he received a letter in July 2016 saying Waffco would be removed because he did not have a storage yard in Portage. Farthing said, under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson, he had met with Snyder in 2012 and Snyder told him he didn't care if he had a yard in Portage.
Prosecutors contend Waffco was removed from the tow list to make room for Cortina and Jurgensen.
Defense attorney Neal Brackett cross-examined Farthing, challenging Farthing's claim he met all city requirements and had never received any complaints. The cross-examination is expected to continue Wednesday morning.
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.
UPDATE: Secret tapes will show pay-for-tow scheme included work on personal vehicles, prosecutors say
NWI Times
February 04, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-secret-tapes-will-show-pay-for-tow-scheme-included/article_b4ad8c37-9b93-5725-b79c-51d46b93ebb4.html
HAMMOND — Prosecutors said Monday if you want to tow cars in Portage, you have to take care of officials.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said it is the theory of the government's case in the bribery charge against Portage Mayor James Snyder.
"If you are going to tow in Portage, you better take care of who makes the decisions," Benson told the court, out of the jury's ear shot as the two sides wrangled over what secretly-recorded audio tapes will be next admitted in court.
Benson said audio tapes will show that John Cortina also did work on Portage officials' personal vehicles.
The debate followed a morning of cross-examination of an FBI agent where one of Snyder's defense attorneys suggested Snyder was "set up" by the FBI in the alleged pay-for-tow scheme in the Region.
Jayna Cacioppo cross-examined FBI special agent Nathan Holbrook Monday morning as the 11th day of Snyder's public corruption trial in federal court began.
Holbrook was Scott Jurgensen's handler as Jurgensen, owner of Samson Towing, worked undercover for the FBI to expose pay-for-tow incidents. Jurgensen, who testified last week, worked for the FBI since 2012 as a confidential informant.
"Is it typical (of the FBI) to set up an elected official with what they think is a donation?" Cacioppo asked Holbrook early in the cross-examination.
"No," Holbrook replied, explaining the FBI investigates to determine whether an official would be willing to accept a bribe.
"We are not trying to set anybody up or push any issues," Holbrook said.
Snyder is charged with accepting a $12,000 bribe from former co-defendant Cortina to get on the city's tow list. Jurgensen partnered with Cortina in the effort and wore a wire, secretly recording dozens of conversations. Snyder is also charged with a second count of bribery and one count of tax obstruction.
Cortina, who may or may not testify during Snyder's trial, pleaded guilty last month to offering Snyder the bribe.
Snyder has said the $12,000 at issue included a $2,000 donation to his political campaign, and a $10,000 loan from Cortina.
Following the cross-examination of Holbrook, another FBI handler, retired agent Donald Cooley, who worked with both Jurgensen and Snyder's brother Jon Snyder during the investigation, took the stand.
His testimony, however, was delayed as defense and government attorneys attempted to come to an agreement on which undercover tapes, recorded between September 2016 and November 2016, would be admitted and played for the jury when court resumes Wednesday.
At issue were tapes in which conversations included how Snyder had planned to pay his attorneys. While not charged in the incident, Snyder attempted in September 2016, to divert $93,000 from the city's Utility Services Board to pay attorney fees.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen ruled introducing any of that evidence was out, but agreed with the government on the admission of other audio tapes.
Chicago Tribune
February 08, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-15-st-0209-story.html
A Portage employee said Friday he wanted to recant testimony he gave a federal grand jury that implicated Mayor James Snyder in an alleged scheme to steer a contract to one company in exchange for a $13,000 payoff.
Randy Reeder, the city’s assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation, said that he “misspoke” when he testified before a grand jury on two occasions in 2016, and wanted to recant his statements made under oath. Reeder, on the 15th day of Snyder’s public corruption trial, wanted to take back statements he made about Snyder’s involvement in the purchases of five garbage trucks.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from Kustom Auto owner John Cortina and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Reeder said he had “misspoken in error” when he told the grand jury that Snyder told him to put a 150-day deliver period in the bid specifications for garbage trucks.
Reeder said when he told the grand jury he was a “pawn” for Snyder that the statement was not accurate.
“I would like to recant that,” Reeder said.
Reeder said he also misspoke when he talked about preparing the bids specifications. Reeder said that it’s common to narrowly tailor specifications so the city gets the equipment it wants.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked about grand jury testimony where Reeder had agreed that the evidence showed Snyder wanted the contract to go to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Reeder said that was not correct.
Koster said many of those statements are incriminating for Snyder, and retracting things he said in the grand jury is helpful to the defense.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked if Reeder felt afraid when he spoke with federal investigators during a meeting.
Reeder said he was afraid because he didn’t think investigators would believe him and they said he could be incarcerated.
Koster said that during that meeting, where Reeder had an attorney, that he took it as a threat when federal investigators told him it was a crime to lie to the FBI.
“Yes,” Reeder said.
Koster asked if Reeder knew it was a crime to lie under oath.
“Yes,” Reeder said.
Koster asked if Reeder considered that a threat.
“No,” Reeder said.
Federal prosecutors claim that Snyder steered a city contract to one firm and netted himself a $13,000 kickback.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up allegedly 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.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
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.
Reeder said when he was hired as assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation, one of his key functions was looking at automating trash and recycling pickup. Reeder said he talked to neighboring cities about how their programs work, looked at pricing for refuse containers, and rewrote Portage’s trash ordinance.
Reeder said that the mayor did not have any specific involvement in the bidding process, and he was only kept in the loop as the process move forward.
During the second round of garbage truck purchases at the end of 2013, Great Lakes Peterbilt again won the contract, and federal prosecutors say sold the city a two-year old truck despite Portage’s own specifications calling for new, unused and current factory production model.
Reeder said all the bids were awarded to the lowest and most responsive bidder. He said he thought the equipment only need to be new and unused, which the truck that had been sitting on the lot was.
Koster asked if Reeder told the Board of Works one of the trucks was two years old.
Reeder said he did not.
As the defense began making its case Wednesday, they first sought to refute allegations that Snyder took a bribe to get a company on the Portage’s tow list.
Cortina, 79, 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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
The trial continues Monday in Hammond’s federal court.
UPDATE: Snyder witness wants to recant incriminating grand jury testimony; says he was threatened by government
NWI Times
February 08, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-snyder-witness-wants-to-recant-incriminating-grand-jury-testimony/article_d77af206-8e56-5ee9-8e05-3042702abf46.html
HAMMOND — Portage Assistant Street Superintendent Randy Reeder said he was under severe emotional distress when he told a grand jury he felt like he was Mayor James Snyder's pawn.
Reeder is at the center of a charge that Snyder took a $13,000 bribe from Steve and Bob Buha, owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt at the time, in exchange for steering more than $1 million in garbage truck purchases. Reeder said Friday he wants to recant what he told the grand jury in early 2016.
"I said I felt like a pawn," Reeder said of his grand jury testimony.
"You told the grand jury, 'I felt like Snyder's pawn,'" Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said.
"I want to recant that," Reeder answered.
Reeder spent Friday on the stand under direct questioning by Snyder attorney Jayna Cacioppo and cross-examination by Koster.
During that questioning, Reeder testified Snyder was not involved in the bidding process nor did Snyder direct him to make sure the contracts went to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Reeder's testimony was in direct conflict with previous testimony of former Street Superintendent Steve Charnetsky and FBI agents who claimed Snyder chose Reeder to work on the project and to make sure the Buhas received the bids.
Reeder said he didn't know of a relationship between the Buhas and Snyder nor that Snyder lunched with the Buhas a day before one of the rounds of bids was to be opened.
In that direct questioning, Cacioppo asked Reeder if he felt threatened by the government and if his grand jury testimony was accurate.
"There were a few things I disagree with," Reeder said of his grand jury testimony.
"Yes. I was afraid the government would not believe me in my statements and I would be incarcerated," Reeder said of his state of mind at the time.
Reeder also told jurors "multiple layers of emotional stress" were going on in his life at the time due to his daughter's diagnosis and treatment for leukemia.
Under cross-examination, Koster asked what corrections he wanted to make.
Reeder said he "misspoke in error" to the grand jury about Snyder knowing about the 150-day delivery requirement for the first round of bidding for the garbage trucks.
"I'd like to change that. He didn't know," Reeder said, adding there were a couple of other items he wanted to change.
After reviewing his grand jury testimony from 2016 during a lunch break, Reeder said he wanted to recant testimony in which he said evidence pointed to Snyder wanting the contracts to go to Great Lakes Peterbilt and that Snyder wanted the deal done as quickly as possible.
Reeder said he felt threatened during an interview with Koster and FBI agents.
"They said if I don't come clean for what I know ... I would not see my family and go to jail," Reeder recounted.
Koster asked him if that was when investigators informed him it was a crime to lie to law enforcement.
"Yes," Reeder replied.
"It's a crime to lie under oath. Do you take that as a threat?" Koster then asked.
"No," Reeder said. "It was the way the government provided that information and the emotional stress I was going through. I misspoke in those statements."
Koster replied that the only statements Reeder wanted to recant were those that were incriminating Snyder.
During continued testimony, Reeder denied Snyder directed him to make sure Great Lakes Peterbilt received the contracts. He told jurors he spoke with Snyder only to keep him updated on the process.
"I never discussed that with the mayor about tailoring the spec," he said while talking about the second round of bids, which prosecutors allege were aimed to make sure Great Lakes Peterbilt could meet them.
In that round, it is alleged the specifications were written so that the company could sell the city a 2-year-old truck while bid requirements included verbiage that the trucks must be new, unused and of the current model year.
Reeder said the truck in question, which allowed the Great Lakes Peterbilt bid to be the lowest, was new and unused, but that he ignored the requirement it be of the current model year.
UPDATE: Towing contracts 'no big deal,' Portage police chief tells jury at Mayor Snyder's trial
NWI Times
February 07, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-towing-contracts-no-big-deal-portage-police-chief-tells/article_cac19e7f-032e-5c12-83fd-d8ca86689bdf.html
HAMMOND — Dealing with towing companies wasn't one of his priorities when Troy Williams became Portage's police chief in 2012, Williams told jurors Thursday morning.
Williams said dealing with tow companies was "no big deal," so he left it to others in his administration.
Williams testified Thursday morning in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial. Snyder is facing two bribery counts and one tax obstruction charge. The trial is in its 14th day.
Snyder has been charged with accepting a $12,000 bribe from John Cortina for placing Cortina and his towing partner, Samson Towing, on the city's list. Samson was placed on the list less than a month after Waffco was removed. Cortina had partnered with Ambassador prior to Samson.
Cortina, Snyder's former co-defendant, pleaded guilty last month to paying Snyder the bribe.
Williams said he believed Waffco Towing had a storage yard in the city, on Old Porter Road, when he first became chief. It wasn't until January 2016, when a fellow city employee was arrested for drunken driving and Snyder and former Director of Administration Joe Calhoun went to retrieve that employee's car, that he learned Waffco had closed that lot.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson questioned Williams about why he gave Ambassador four to five chances to correct issues before removing them from the city's tow list, while not calling Waffco to advise them of the issue before a letter was sent terminating the tow company. Benson also questioned Williams about the city's tow agreement not requiring a storage lot within city limits.
Waffco owner Kevin Farthing testified earlier he had an indoor storage yard on U.S. 6, which opened in 2015.
Williams said he learned of the U.S. 6 lot and went by it several times but believed it was closed. He also testified it did not have an outdoor secure lot, and the building appeared too small to store a sufficient number of vehicles.
Williams told jurors while it wasn't in the written agreement, the expectation of having a lot in Portage was discussed with a Waffco representative and other tow company owners in January 2016.
Williams said the decision to remove Waffco from the list was made by himself, Calhoun and Snyder.
The defense played an audiotape of an Aug. 9, 2016, meeting between Williams and Samson owner, Scott Jurgensen, who worked as an undercover agent for the FBI.
In the tape, Williams can be heard telling Jurgensen Waffco was removed because of a lack of a yard in the city.
In addition to Williams, Snyder's campaign treasurer Kenard Taylor told jurors $10,000 of the $12,000 Snyder received from Cortina was considered a loan and listed as such on campaign finance documents.
Assistant Street Department Superintendent Randy Reeder took the stand near the end of the day and is expected to continue testifying Friday.
Portage chief rebuffs claims that mayor had one tow firm bumped from city list to make way for another that paid bribe
Chicago Tribune
February 07, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-14-st-0708-story.html
Portage’s police chief rebuffed the idea that a tow operator was removed from the city’s tow list to make room for another company that allegedly bribed Mayor James Snyder.
Portage Police Chief Troy Williams on Thursday said it was a “collective decision” to remove Waffco, a Lake Station firm, after city officials found the company didn’t have a satisfactory yard in the city. Federal prosecutors aimed to show that the company met all the city’s requirements and was removed to open a spot for John Cortina of Kustom Auto Body, and Scott Jurgensen, of Samson’s Towing, after they gave Snyder an alleged $12,000 bribe.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked who made the decision to terminate Waffco.
“I would say it was more a collective decision,” Williams said.
Cacioppo asked if Williams was ever directed by the mayor to remove Waffco from the tow list.
“No,” Williams said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson asked about the decision to get rid of Waffco, and if the mayor made the final call.
“There were conversations,” Williams said. “I was in agreement with it.”
The mayor had the authority to make that call, Benson asked.
“Yes,” Williams said.
Benson showed Williams a copy of the Portage Police Department’s vehicle release form that listed Waffco’s address in Lake Station.
Williams said it was a clerical form and he “wasn’t familiar with every form.”
Benson asked if anyone had complained about not being able to find Waffco’s yard.
“Not that I recall,” Williams said.
Kevin Farthing, owner of Waffco Towing in Lake Station, testified Tuesday that 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.
On July 20, 2016, Farthing said he received a letter from Joe Calhoun, the city’s then director of administration, informing him the towing contract was going to end because Waffco didn’t have a yard in Portage.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Cacioppo asked Williams about when Cortina had previously partnered with Ambassador, which was later removed from Portage’s tow list in 2015.
Williams said the department had complaints about the company arriving late, not adequately cleaning scenes and drivers not dressing appropriately.
Cacioppo asked if Snyder could have told Williams to keep Ambassador on the list.
“Yes,” Williams said.
Benson said that even though Williams had repeated complaints about Ambassador, he continued to give them another chance unlike Waffco.
Benson said the city told Waffco it was being taken off the list for not having a yard in Portage even though the written towing agreement doesn’t say they needed that.
Federal prosecutors rested their case Wednesday after presenting evidence of Snyder’s alleged schemes for 11 days.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but would up allegedly steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt, which was then owned by Robert and Steve Buha. Prosecutors say the deal netted Snyder a $13,000 kickback.
Great Lakes Peterbilt is now owned by a different firm.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
UPDATE: John Cortina refused payments for city and personal services, Portage police chief tells jurors
NWI Times
February 06, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-john-cortina-refused-payments-for-city-and-personal-services/article_bb59e823-c974-5d06-8611-7d8bc984d8f8.html
HAMMOND — John Cortina may have complained on undercover audiotape recordings that Portage officials continued to "squeeze" him for free city and personal services, but that is far from the truth, Police Chief Troy Williams testified Wednesday afternoon.
Williams was the first witness for the defense in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial.
Prosecuting attorneys rested the government's case just after lunch and turned the case over to Snyder's six-member defense team as the trial continued into its 13th day.
"He was always asking if there was something he could do," Williams said about work Cortina did on three city vehicles, adding Williams offered to have the city pay for the painting of two Humvees and a prisoner transport van.
Williams said Cortina, through his Kustom Auto Body business, was one of several Portage businesses which donated or deeply discounted services to the city.
Cortina was Snyder's co-defendant. Charges allege Cortina paid Snyder a $12,000 bribe to get himself and his partner, Samson Towing, owned by FBI undercover informant Scott Jurgensen, on the city's tow list. Cortina pleaded guilty in January to paying the bribe.
Snyder contends the $12,000 was a combination of a $2,000 political donation and a $10,000 loan.
In addition to the alleged tow-for-pay charge, Snyder is also charged with a second count of bribery in the awarding of contracts for city trash trucks in exchange for $13,000 and tax obstruction.
Williams said he also offered to pay Cortina for work on his wife's van, but Cortina refused payment. Instead, Williams said, his wife sent pizza and soft drinks to the business the next day in appreciation for the work.
Williams, who will continue on the stand Thursday morning, also denied knowledge of Cortina's claim that Cortina paid $1,100 to put new wheels and tires on a truck driven by Portage police Sgt. Ross Haynes, who was assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service in 2016.
It is still uncertain whether Cortina will testify. Snyder's team has issued him a subpoena, but Cortina's attorney, Kevin Milner, filed a motion to quash the subpoena, saying testifying could violate Cortina's Fifth Amendment rights regarding self-incrimination.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo also began questioning Williams about the city's tow policy and his interactions with Waffco Towing.
Waffco owner Kevin Farthing testified previously he was removed from the city's tow list in July 2016 without warning and for no cause.
About a month later, Samson Towing took Waffco's spot on the tow list.
After prosecutors rested their cases, the defense team immediately sought an acquittal, as is customary. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen requested written briefs on the motion, saying he will rule in the future.
Government rests, defense calls first witness in Portage mayor's bribery trial
Chicago Tribune
February 06, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-thirteen-st-0207-story.html
Federal prosecutors rested their case Wednesday against Portage Mayor James Snyder as the defense called its first witness.
Portage Police Chief Troy Williams, dressed in his department uniform, took the stand Wednesday afternoon at the Hammond federal courthouse as the defense’s first witness.
Attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked if Snyder directed Williams to take police department vehicles to Kustom Auto Body, owned by John Cortina, to have work done.
“Not at all,” Williams said.
Williams testified for roughly an hour Wednesday after the government finished presenting its case on the 13th day of Snyder’s jury trial.
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. Cortina was not called as one of the government’s witnesses.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case by finishing testimony from Kevin Farthing, owner of Waffco Towing in Lake Station, who they say was bumped from the Portage tow list after another firm gave the mayor a $12,000 bribe.
The government also recalled an IRS agent who helped investigate campaign fiances in the case.
Williams then testified for the defense that he met Snyder around 2010 or 2011, and he agreed to support Snyder in his 2011 mayoral campaign. Williams donated about $300 to Snyder, he said.
“I wanted to see a change,” Williams said.
Williams later became police chief in 2012. Towing was not a major focus for Williams when he took over the role, he said, instead leaving day-to-day towing operations to a major in the department. Williams said he would step in if a new tow firm came was signed on.
Williams and the mayor had a say on who was on the tow list, he said, but the agreements they had with the companies were “nonbinding” and were “at will.”
Multiple businesses would offer services or help to the police department for free or at discounted rates, including Cortina’s, Williams said. Cortina was friendly and asked “hey, is there anything I can do for you? Let me know,” Williams said.
Cortina painted vehicles for the department, including a prisoner transport van and a Humvee, according to Williams. Cacioppo asked if Williams offered to pay Cortina for the work he did.
“I’m certain that I did,” Williams said. Had Cortina submitted an invoice, “we’d be happy to pay it,” he said.
A department vehicle used for undercover and surveillance had “flashy” rims, Williams said. The chief called Cortina to ask who could get those changed, and Cortina told him to bring the vehicle to Kustom Auto Body, Williams said.
Cacioppo asked if Williams asked Cortina to do the work for free.
“Never,” Williams said.
Williams said he brought a personal vehicle to Cortina once. Williams’ wife’s vehicle had “rust spots” on it. The chief said he chose to bring the vehicle to Cortina because he knew he did good work and was a local business.
Cacioppo asked if Williams and his wife offered to pay for the work.
“Absolutely we did,” Williams said.
When Cortina “refused to take payment,” Williams said his wife sent pizzas and pop to the business the next day.
Before the defense called their first witness, Vivek Hadley, another attorney on Snyder’s defense team, made arguments for a judgement of acquittal. Hadley argued that some evidence was improperly admitted and that the government had not proved its case.
“We do not believe the government has shown quid pro quo,” Hadley said.
Hadley argued that prosecutors had not shown intent and had stretched the bounds of the statutes that Snyder is charged with so far that any campaign contribution could be considered illegal.
“A political contribution can be a bribe,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said.
Benson argued that there was an agreement with the mayor that Cortina would get on the Portage tow list, and Waffco would get kicked off.
Snyder was in a “terrible financial situation,” Benson said. When Snyder received $12,000 from Cortina that was designated as a campaign contribution and as a loan, Snyder went and paid his attorney, Benson said.
“That’s motive. He needed the money,” Benson said.
Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen took the acquittal motion under advisement.
Portage officials 'squeeze everybody,' Snyder's co-defendant says on secret audio recording
NWI Times
2 hours ago
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/portage-officials-squeeze-everybody-snyder-s-co-defendant-says-on/article_567dd015-96d8-5873-a594-315a7f281b73.html
HAMMOND — Portage Mayor James Snyder's co-defendant John Cortina could be heard complaining in a secret recording that Portage officials "squeeze everybody." The audio was played for the jury in Snyder's public corruption trial Tuesday.
In the secret recording by Cortina's partner, Scott Jurgensen, also an undercover agent for the FBI, Cortina complains to Jurgensen that he had to do free work on the car of Police Chief Troy Williams' wife, bought hundreds of dollars of fireworks for Snyder and former Director of Administration Joe Calhoun and paid $1,100 to put new tires and rims on a car used by Portage police Officer Ross Haynes, who had been assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service, to remain on the city's tow list.
In another recording, Snyder was adamant that Cortina seek legal counsel after Cortina's business was raided by the FBI.
On secretly recorded audiotapes introduced during the 12th day of Snyder's trial Tuesday, Snyder could be heard encouraging Cortina and his wife, Margaret, to get Cortina legal representation. Snyder even offered to drive Cortina to an attorney's office if necessary.
Cortina, who was indicted along with Snyder in November 2016, pleaded guilty to one count of paying Snyder a $12,000 bribe in a pay-for-tow scheme.
Snyder has contended Cortina donated $2,000 to his campaign committee and loaned him $10,000 to pay legal fees.
Government prosecutors, during testimony by retired FBI agent Donald Cooley, introduced the tapes and evidence they believe indicate the payment from Cortina to Snyder was a bribe to get on the city's tow list. Cortina and Jurgensen were put on the city's tow list about six months after Cortina gave Snyder the $12,000 in January 2016.
Among audiotapes introduced Tuesday were ones secretly recorded by Snyder's brother, Jon Snyder, who worked with the FBI during the investigation. The conversation Jon Snyder recorded took place in James Snyder's home and included the brothers and the Cortinas. It took place Nov. 10, 2016, after FBI agents executed search warrants throughout the Region, including Cortina's business, Kustom Auto Body, the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the home of former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, who was later convicted on separate bribery charges.
At the time, they were concerned Cortina had been caught up in the Buncich investigation.
"But they don't see here, here they know that when you work for the city, most of the time you gotta give favors to get the job from the city. They know that," Cortina is heard saying in the recording.
"You just can't say that," James Snyder replied.
"You can't say it that way. But, but we're stupid if we don't say amongst ourselves what, what's going on," Cortina says.
"And hence, hence Margaret, he needs an attorney because of the way he talks," James Snyder said on the tape.
James Snyder is also heard telling those in the conversation, "It's not like he gave me cash" and "I wrote on it, 'Loan.'"
Kevin Farthing, owner of Waffco Towing testified throughout the afternoon.
Farthing testified his company had been on the city tow list for 18 years before he received a letter in July 2016 saying Waffco would be removed because he did not have a storage yard in Portage. Farthing said, under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson, he had met with Snyder in 2012 and Snyder told him he didn't care if he had a yard in Portage.
Prosecutors contend Waffco was removed from the tow list to make room for Cortina and Jurgensen.
Defense attorney Neal Brackett cross-examined Farthing, challenging Farthing's claim he met all city requirements and had never received any complaints. The cross-examination is expected to continue Wednesday morning.
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.
UPDATE: Secret tapes will show pay-for-tow scheme included work on personal vehicles, prosecutors say
NWI Times
February 04, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-secret-tapes-will-show-pay-for-tow-scheme-included/article_b4ad8c37-9b93-5725-b79c-51d46b93ebb4.html
HAMMOND — Prosecutors said Monday if you want to tow cars in Portage, you have to take care of officials.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said it is the theory of the government's case in the bribery charge against Portage Mayor James Snyder.
"If you are going to tow in Portage, you better take care of who makes the decisions," Benson told the court, out of the jury's ear shot as the two sides wrangled over what secretly-recorded audio tapes will be next admitted in court.
Benson said audio tapes will show that John Cortina also did work on Portage officials' personal vehicles.
The debate followed a morning of cross-examination of an FBI agent where one of Snyder's defense attorneys suggested Snyder was "set up" by the FBI in the alleged pay-for-tow scheme in the Region.
Jayna Cacioppo cross-examined FBI special agent Nathan Holbrook Monday morning as the 11th day of Snyder's public corruption trial in federal court began.
Holbrook was Scott Jurgensen's handler as Jurgensen, owner of Samson Towing, worked undercover for the FBI to expose pay-for-tow incidents. Jurgensen, who testified last week, worked for the FBI since 2012 as a confidential informant.
"Is it typical (of the FBI) to set up an elected official with what they think is a donation?" Cacioppo asked Holbrook early in the cross-examination.
"No," Holbrook replied, explaining the FBI investigates to determine whether an official would be willing to accept a bribe.
"We are not trying to set anybody up or push any issues," Holbrook said.
Snyder is charged with accepting a $12,000 bribe from former co-defendant Cortina to get on the city's tow list. Jurgensen partnered with Cortina in the effort and wore a wire, secretly recording dozens of conversations. Snyder is also charged with a second count of bribery and one count of tax obstruction.
Cortina, who may or may not testify during Snyder's trial, pleaded guilty last month to offering Snyder the bribe.
Snyder has said the $12,000 at issue included a $2,000 donation to his political campaign, and a $10,000 loan from Cortina.
Following the cross-examination of Holbrook, another FBI handler, retired agent Donald Cooley, who worked with both Jurgensen and Snyder's brother Jon Snyder during the investigation, took the stand.
His testimony, however, was delayed as defense and government attorneys attempted to come to an agreement on which undercover tapes, recorded between September 2016 and November 2016, would be admitted and played for the jury when court resumes Wednesday.
At issue were tapes in which conversations included how Snyder had planned to pay his attorneys. While not charged in the incident, Snyder attempted in September 2016, to divert $93,000 from the city's Utility Services Board to pay attorney fees.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen ruled introducing any of that evidence was out, but agreed with the government on the admission of other audio tapes.
Portage mayor's defense tries to block playing of undercover recordings
Chicago Tribune
February 04, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-eleven-st-0205-story.html
Defense attorneys for Portage Mayor James Snyder attempted to block a jury from hearing undercover recordings that prosecutors say further elaborate on the scheme to solicit bribes.
Federal prosecutors said a final round of undercover recordings, which include conversations with Snyder after the FBI conducted search warrants in Northwest Indiana related to towing, lay out the scheme to solicit bribes and favors to get city business. Defense attorneys called some of the recordings “prejudicial” and that playing only portions wouldn’t give the jury a full understanding of events.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said some conversations show that people went to John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, to get work done on their cars; how Cortina gave fireworks to the mayor; and other favors.
“It’s really necessary to show this is exactly how towing works in Portage,” Benson said.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said one conversation relates to a police officer getting tires from Kustom Auto Body, owned by Snyder’s co-defendant John Cortina who pleaded guilty to paying bribes.
“There’s no suggestion the mayor had anything to do with it,” Bennett said.
Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen said he would let prosecutors play the tapes.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Another series of recordings were made during a meeting between Snyder, Jon Snyder and Cortina the same day that the FBI conducted searches at Kustom Auto Body. That same day, the FBI also searched now-former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich’s office, home, and the yard and residence of a Lake Station tow operator.
Defense attorney Vivek Hadley said they would want more of the conversation introduced than what the government planned to play. Hadley said the conversation includes several times where Snyder explains to Cortina why he should get an attorney after the raid.
Benson said during one of the recordings Snyder tells Cortina to get a lawyer because of how he talks. Benson said the intent of why Snyder would say that to Cortina is clear.
Van Bokkelen said he would not allow the whole conversation to be introduced.
“I don’t think the law’s with you,” Van Bokkelen said.
Starting Friday, federal prosecutors played a series of undercover recordings that document the alleged $12,000 bribe and how Cortina and Jurgensen got on Portage’s tow list.
Defense attorneys have said $10,000 of that was a loan to Snyder’s campaign.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked what the difference is between a lawful political contribution and a non-lawful contribution.
“Some political contributions are bribes,” said FBI agent Nathan Holbrook.
Holbrook said the distinction is made if a quid pro quo is attached to the contribution.
Cacioppo asked if it’s typical for the FBI to set up an individual with what that person thinks is a lawful political contribution.
“We’re not trying to set up anyone,” Holbrook said.
The defense pointed out that the alleged bribe was paid in January 2016, but Jurgensen and Cortina didn’t get on the tow list until August.
Benson asked Holbrook, in his experience working other public corruption cases, if it was unusual for such a passage of time.
“It’s not unusual,” Holbrook said.
As the trial entered its 11th day, prosecutors have already presented evidence on two other charges.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up allegedly steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt, which was then owned by Robert and Steve Buha. Prosecutors say the deal netted Snyder a $13,000 kickback.
Great Lakes Peterbilt is now owned by a different firm.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
Snyder defense attorney suggests FBI 'set up' Portage mayor in pay-for-tow charge
NWI Times
February 04, 2019
HAMMOND — One of Portage Mayor James Snyder's defense attorneys suggested Snyder was "set up" by the FBI in the alleged pay-for-tow scheme in the Region.
Jayna Cacioppo cross-examined FBI special agent Nathan Holbrook Monday morning as the 11th day of Snyder's public corruption trial in federal court began.
Holbrook was Scott Jurgensen's handler as Jurgensen, owner of Sampson Towing, worked undercover for the FBI to expose pay-for-tow incidents. Jurgensen, who testified last week, worked for the FBI since 2012 as a confidential informant.
"Is it typical (of the FBI) to set up an elected official with what they think is a donation?" Cacioppo asked Holbrook early in the cross-examination.
"No," Holbrook replied, later explaining the FBI investigates to determine whether an official would be willing to accept a bribe.
"We are not trying to set anybody up or push any issues," Holbrook said.
Snyder is charged with accepting a $12,000 bribe from former co-defendant John Cortina to get on the city's tow list. Jurgensen partnered with Cortina in the effort and wore a wire, secretly recording dozens of conversations.
Cortina, who may or may not testify during Snyder's trial, pleaded guilty last month to offering Snyder the bribe.
Snyder has said the $12,000 at issue included a $2,000 donation to his political campaign, and a $10,000 loan from Cortina.
Through Monday morning's cross-examination of Holbrook, Cacioppo attempted to discredit Cortina, the FBI's investigation and Jurgensen's motivations in working for the government.
Cacioppo also asked Holbrook if he had any evidence to prove claims Cortina made in the undercover recordings that he had paid for Snyder's vacation, lent large sums of money to the mayor, paid for meals or taken him to sporting events.
Holbrook said he had no evidence, but added he did not work on the financial aspects of Snyder's investigation.
In her questioning of Holbrook, Cacioppo also attempted to compare Snyder's alleged offense to that of former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, who was convicted of taking bribes, and the role of Porter County Sheriff Dave Reynolds in setting up an initial meeting between Jurgensen and Snyder.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson objected repeatedly during these questions, and several sidebars among the two attorneys and U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen took place. Van Bokkelen ruled against Cacioppo over these objections.
A common denominator in Northwest Indiana's pay-to-play towing investigations: 'Individual A'
Chicago Tribune
February 01, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-jurgensen-towing-investigation-st-0203-story.html
A Hobart tow operator wanted to do the right thing to get work for his company.
Scott Jurgensen, owner of Samson’s Towing, allegedly went to Portage Mayor James Snyder to get on the city’s tow list, but federal prosecutors say that deal went nowhere until he paid a bribe.
What allegedly happened in Portage wasn’t the only case of pay-to-play towing that Jurgensen helped expose.
Federal authorities, with Jurgensen’s cooperation, built public corruption cases against former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, former Lake County Police Chief Timothy Downs, former Merrillville town councilman Tom Goralczyk and former Lake County Deputy Chief Dan Murchek. Also indicted with Buncich in November 2016 was tow operator William Szarmach of CSA Towing. John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, was indicted with Snyder.
Jurgensen testified Tuesday during Snyder’s public corruption trial about how he tried to get on the tow list, but until he partnered with Cortina and kicked in money to give to the mayor, the process languished.
But Jurgensen’s story mirrored his experiences to get on the Merrillville and Lake County tow lists.
When the FBI came looking for a towing invoice at Jurgensen’s yard in 2013, they asked the retired Merrillville police officer why he didn’t do more towing.
“Because I didn’t pay bribes,” Jurgensen said. That conversation began a years-long investigation into pay-to-play towing in Northwest Indiana.
At its early stages, the investigation started in Merrillville.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Benson asked how long Jurgensen tried to get on the Merrillville list.
“Years,” Jurgensen said.
That changed when “a politician took cars from me,” Jurgensen said. In November 2017, Goralczyk was indicted for allegedly taking a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee; a 2008 Ford Focus; four new camper tires; and free storage for a motorcycle from “Individual A” in return for a towing contract from Merrillville, according to court documents.
Goralczyk, who represented Ward 4, was seeking his third term on the Merrillville Town Council when he lost the seat to Marge Uzelac, a longtime activist in the town, in the May 2015 Democratic primary. He had served as council president twice during his two terms.
Jurgensen had tried for at least three years to get on the Merrillville list, according to testimony, but once the bribe was paid Jurgensen was towing within six months.
While Jurgensen worked in Merrillville, he began talking about tow operations with Downs, who also distributed political fundraising tickets and collected money for Buncich.
Buncich, Downs, and Szarmach, of C.S.A. Towing, were named in a multicount indictment in November 2016 alleging a towing scheme where the sheriff accepted bribes in the form of thousands of dollars in cash and donations to his campaign fund, Buncich Boosters, according to court records.
Buncich, 73, was convicted for using his office to solicit bribes from tow operators, according to court records, and later sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison. Buncich, who entered prison in January 2018, is in the process of appealing his conviction and sentence.
Jurgensen told a jury during Buncich’s trial that the bribes helped him get on the tow list but also led to the expansion of his towing territory. During Buncich’s trial, his defense team accused the FBI of buying itself a crime.
They argued that the former sheriff did nothing illegal and all the donations and fundraising tickets purchased were legitimate. Jurgensen said during the six and half years of cooperating with the FBI, he’s been paid roughly $140,000. He said $30,000 of that amount was for expenses.
While not directly tied to the bribery scheme that took down Buncich, Murchek was pulled into the federal investigation when he lied about campaign donations he received from Jurgensen.
Murchek was indicted in April for allegedly making false statements to the FBI, according to court documents, and reportedly lied to investigators during an interview about towing operations under Buncich when the former deputy chief was asked about campaign contributions he received from a tow operator.
During the fall of 2016, Murchek had announced he planned to run for sheriff during the 2018 primary, as Buncich had served two consecutive terms and was prohibited by term limits from running again.
On Sept. 23, 2016, Murchek met with “Person A,” who was recording the meeting in cooperation with the FBI, and discussed how to structure a campaign donation to avoid Indiana’s limitation on business contributions, according to court documents.
The indictment said “Person A” allegedly gave Murchek a $1,000 donation from his business, which was a towing firm that did work for the Sheriff’s Department, and a personal check for $500 from one of the business’ employees. “Person A” had given an employee $500, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the employee then wrote a check to Murchek’s campaign.
During a November 2016 interview with the FBI, agents asked Murchek about contributions from “Person A,” according to the indictment, but he denied structuring the donation to skirt Indiana campaign donation limits.
UPDATE: Secret audio recordings played in Portage mayor's public corruption trial; co-defendant may not testify
NWI Times
February 01, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/he-owes-me-secret-recordings-played-for-jury-in-mayor/article_62fe5d3b-afaf-53a4-818b-5d41405d3671.html
HAMMOND — Secret audio recordings played for jurors Friday of John Cortina, Portage Mayor James Snyder's co-defendant in Snyder's public corruption case, drew persistent objections by Snyder's defense attorney.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo told U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen that accepting the tapes as evidence, but not calling Cortina to testify, would not give Snyder's team a chance to cross examine Cortina.
"They are using the testimony against my client with no chance to cross-examine him. To the extent the way we are handling it, the way the government is putting on its case, they are forcing us to put on a case," Cacioppo said.
Cortina pleaded guilty to paying Snyder a bribe, but Cortina might not take the witness stand to tell the jury his side of the story. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said the government is not committed to calling Cortina, and the decision would be made only after cross-examination.
Friday's testimony in federal court centered on the $12,000 Cortina has admitted paying Snyder for a spot on the towing list for himself and FBI informant Scott Jurgensen.
The testimony, however, came by way of secretly recorded audiotapes in which Cortina can be heard telling Jurgensen, "He owes me," referring to Snyder and the alleged bribe-for-towing scheme.
The excerpt was one of dozens played for the jury throughout the 10th day of the trial in U.S. District Court.
The tapes were continually objected to by Snyder's defense team, especially after it was learned government prosecutors may not call the 79-year-old Cortina to the stand to testify against Snyder.
Court officials and attorneys also conferenced with Cortina's attorney, Kevin Milner, as to whether Cortina would be available to testify.
The audiotapes were introduced through the testimony of FBI special agent Nathan Holbrook, who was Jurgensen's handler during several bribe-for-towing investigations in the Region.
"The government has the right to proceed. I don't think I have to make a ruling now," Van Bokkelen said, adding he could rule later as the trial progressed.
The audiotapes primarily covered Jan. 26, 2016, through Sept. 6, 2016, and were predominantly conversations between Cortina and Jurgensen on how to get on the city's tow list, frustrations over how long it took to get on the list after paying Snyder $12,000 and finally, after getting on the list, what they might do to maintain the status.
One tape, from May 2014, featured a conversation between Snyder and Jurgensen, ending with Snyder suggesting he would talk to Cortina about partnering with Jurgensen to win a spot on the Portage contract.
The tapes, which were often inaudible in the courtroom due to quality or background noises, also featured conversations with Portage Police Chief Troy Williams and Joe Calhoun, former director of administration for the city.
Jurors were given transcripts of the audiotapes.
Snyder, who pleaded not guilty to this and a second bribery charge and a tax obstruction charge, has contended the money he received from Cortina was a combination of a donation to his campaign account and a loan to help pay Snyder's attorneys.
Cortina, who was indicted along with Snyder in November 2016, pleaded guilty to paying a bribe to Snyder earlier this month and is expected to be sentenced in April.
Jurors hear recordings of alleged $12K bribe to Portage mayor
Chicago Tribune
February 01, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-ten-st-0202-story.html
As federal prosecutors played a series of undercover recordings documenting an alleged $12,000 bribe paid to Portage Mayor James Snyder, defense attorneys cried foul over the evidence.
During the 10th day of Snyder’s public corruption trial in Hammond’s federal court, the mayor’s defense attorneys say that the undercover recordings should be excluded as hearsay, especially since John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, might not take the stand, leaving the defense unable to question him.
Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen said he will let federal prosecutors continue to play the tapes, which were made by Scott Jurgensen, of Samson’s Towing, who was cooperating with the FBI.
Defense attorney Jayna Caioppo said if Cortina doesn’t take the stand they cannot cross examine him, and the FBI agent walking the jury through the tapes has “zero knowledge” of the events.
Cacioppo said Snyder does not need to put on a defense as it is the government’s burden to prove any alleged crimes. She said forcing the defense to call a witness could be a constitutional violation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said the prosecution is “leaning toward” not calling Cortina, but has not made a decision.
Van Bokkelen said he would let the case proceed and address that issue as the trial moves along.
“I think this issue has not been teed up,” Van Bokkelen said.
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 in November 2016, pleaded guilty last month to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
On Jan. 28, 2016, Jurgensen brought Cortina his portion of the $12,000 that would go to Snyder. Cortina got two bank checks, one for $2,000 for the mayor’s roundtable group and another for a $10,000 donation.
“When the feds look at this, it looks like a donation,” Cortina said to Jurgensen.
Cortina called Snyder to arrange a time to drop off the checks.
“Christmas is here,” Cortina said to Snyder. “I’ve got Christmas.”
Despite the alleged bribe, Jurgensen and Cortina did not get on the Portage’s tow list until August 2016, but the recordings have Cortina insisting the mayor is on it.
“Nothing’s happening yet,” Cortina said, in a Feb. 22, 2016, conversation. “It’ll happen.”
During an Aug. 9, 2016, meeting, the confidential source recorded a conversation with Cortina where the two discussed the $12,000 payment and getting on Portage’s tow list, according to court documents.
“Uh, I asked the mayor last night if he needs anything. He says he doesn’t need anything,” Cortina said, on the Aug. 9 recording. “So forget it. We gave $12,000.”
“Yeah, I know,” the source said.
“We gave $12,000. I’m, I’m gonna (unintelligible),” Cortina said.
“We, and we gave $12,000 and we got nothing,” the source said.
“Yeah, I know,” Cortina said.
“Until today,” the source said.
“Well, ‘till today,” Cortina replied.
In a later recording, Cortina said the mayor called the money “a loan” but he called it “juice money.”
On Tuesday, jurors heard from Jurgensen, who worked with Cortina to get on Portage’s tow list and together paid an alleged $12,000 bribe. Jurgensen was cooperating with the FBI.
Jon Snyder, the mayor’s brother and the Porter County assessor, said that Cortina reached out to him about getting on Portage’s tow list, but he said he didn’t want to get involved. Jon Snyder contacted the FBI and began cooperating against his brother.
Before prosecutors moved onto the alleged towing bribery scheme, they wrapped up testimony on a second bribery count that claimed the Snyder steered a city contract to one firm and netted himself a $13,000 kickback.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but would up allegedly 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.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
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 advice Great Lakes Peterbilt about making similar changes.
Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
UPDATE: Jon Snyder agreed to wear wire in brother's public corruption case, jurors told
NWI Times
January 29, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-jon-snyder-agreed-to-wear-wire-in-brother-s/article_684f1d35-5df5-575e-be1b-a5b9c81359b6.html
HAMMOND — Jon Snyder had been cooperating with the FBI since 2012, but he didn't bring the agency information about his brother until a mutual friend began talking about an alleged bribe for towing scheme.
That mutual friend was John Cortina, who, until earlier this month was Portage Mayor James Snyder's co-defendant in an allegation that Cortina paid James Snyder $12,000 to get on the city's tow list. Cortina pleaded guilty this month to paying James Snyder the alleged bribe.
Jon Snyder, Porter County assessor, testified for less than two hours Tuesday afternoon against his brother as members of their family sat in the audience and watched.
"I had enough going on in my life and didn't want another investigation," Jon Snyder explained as to why he went to the FBI in 2015 to tell agents about the alleged bribery scheme. He didn't know at the time his brother was already being investigated on the allegation and that another confidential informant had been wearing a wire to collect incriminating evidence.
What was going on in Jon Snyder's life at the time included an investigation by the IRS into his own financial doings and an investigation into his county office over allegations that someone in the office was fixing assessment appeals.
Jon Snyder pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax count late last year. In return, he agreed to testify against his brother. He will be sentenced late next month.
Jon Snyder, who, during cross examination by one of his brother's attorneys, was painted as being ungrateful for everything James Snyder had done for his family and as someone who was looking for a way out from his own tax problems, said he didn't initially begin wearing a wire to collect evidence. That came about six months later.
Jon Snyder's direct testimony under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson was quick, lasting less than an hour Tuesday during the ninth day of his brother's public corruption trial.
He outlined his reasons for contacting the FBI and his relationship with Cortina. He authenticated a binder full of transcripts from the secret recordings, expected to be played for the jury sometime later in the trial.
Relationship with brother
Jayna Cacioppo, one of James Snyder's six attorneys attending the trial, asked Jon Snyder about his support in James Snyder's political campaigns as well as James Snyder's support in Jon's. She asked about times James Snyder went grocery shopping or allegedly lent Jon Snyder money.
"Most of the time you were informing on James, he was helping out with all your children?" Cacioppo asked.
Jon Snyder recalled some of the incidents, but he denied others happened. He told jurors he had borrowed money from his brother, but paid it back, and that his brother owed him money.
"You were threatened by the government" to turn on James Snyder, Cacioppo asked. When Jon Snyder denied the allegation, she countered that the information had come from his father, Bruce, who has been at the trial each day since its start.
"Are you calling your father a liar?" Cacioppo asked.
"Yes. He told me he wouldn't be in the courtroom today," Jon Snyder answered. "I was not threatened by the government. I thought long and hard before I went to the FBI."
Tow company informant
Prior to Jon Snyder's testimony, Scott Jurgensen, a confidential informant who also wore a wire recording conversations regarding the alledged tow for pay charge, took the stand.
Jurgensen, a former Merrillville police officer turned tow truck company owner, said he took up the FBI on its offer to become a confidential informant because he wanted "to do the right thing."
Cortina pleaded guilty earlier this month to paying Snyder the bribe and is expected to be a government witness in the case.
Jurgensen said he first approached Snyder about getting on Portage's tow list in May 2014. During that meeting in Portage City Hall, Jurgensen testified Snyder directed him to Cortina, who owns Kustom Auto Body. Cortina had partnered with another tow company, Ambassador Towing, but Ambassador was being removed from the city's list, leaving Cortina without a partner.
Cortina provided storage yard and payment collection services to the tow companies.
"James Snyder told me Cortina meant a lot to him, and it was best to go through Cortina," Jurgensen testified under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson.
Jurgensen said he had not previously met Cortina, but knew of him. He said he stopped by Cortina's business one day to discuss the partnership.
"He (Cortina) felt he was close to the mayor, and he could get us on the tow list," Jurgensen testified.
Jurgensen said he gave Cortina $6,000 toward the $12,000 bribe, which was paid to Snyder in January 2016. Jurgensen said he received the tow contract from Portage in August 2016 and towed within the city until November 2016 when FBI agents issued search warrants on Cortina's property. Cortina and Snyder were indicted on Nov. 17, 2016.
Due to the weather, the trial has been recessed until 9 a.m. Friday.
Tow operator testifies about alleged bribe to Portage mayor
Chicago Tribune
January 29, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-nine-st-0129-story.html
A tow operator cooperating with the FBI said he always wanted to get on the towing lists of Region communities honestly.
In Portage, the tow operator testified Tuesday that he needed to pay a bribe.
On the ninth day of trial, federal prosecutors began presenting evidence that Portage Mayor James Snyder allegedly sought $12,000 from Scott Jurgensen, of Samson’s Towing, who was cooperating with the FBI, and John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, to get them a spot on the city’s towing list.
Jurgensen’s testimony about the alleged bribe was followed Tuesday by the mayor’s brother, Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder, who wound up providing information to the FBI after being alarmed by the alleged towing deal.
Jurgensen said he began cooperating with the FBI in 2013, “because I didn’t pay bribes,” Jurgensen said.
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 James Snyder, pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Jurgensen said he first met with James Snyder in 2014 and was told to talk to Cortina. He said he then went to meet Cortina.
“He felt he was close to the mayor and he could get us on that list, Jurgensen said.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. asked if Jurgensen had ever given donations to other officials’ campaigns.
Jurgensen said he’s given donations to political figures.
Bennett asked if it was Jurgensen’s understanding that the two checks Cortina delivered were a bribe.
“Yes,” Jurgensen said.
Bennett said that’s only based on what Cortina told Jurgensen, and that he never discussed the transaction with the mayor.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson asked about a phone call that Jurgensen recorded between Cortina and Snyder on the day the $12,000 was ready.
Jurgensen said Cortina told the mayor it was “Christmas time.”
Jurgensen said after the FBI raided Cortina’s tow yard in November 2016, and the indictments were announced, he was removed from Portage’s tow list.
Jon Snyder, said that Cortina, who he described as a longtime friend, began talking to him about getting on the city towing list.
“I just didn’t like it,” Jon Snyder said. “I tried to tell him to stop talking about it.”
Jon Snyder, who was already under federal investigation related to his personal business, said he didn’t want to get involved in any towing business and went to the FBI.
“I had enough going on in my life, I didn’t need another investigation,” Jon Snyder said.
In October, Jon Snyder pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to supply information to the IRS, and agreed to provide the FBI with information about his brother, including making undercover recordings.
Jon Snyder, as owner of Shoreline Appraisals Inc., allegedly failed to give the IRS an “Informational Return 1099 Form,” which is a requirement for non-employees who received more than $600 in payments during a calendar year, according to court documents.
Jon Snyder and Shoreline Appraisals allegedly failed to file the document for “Person A,” who was paid more than $5,000 in 2013, according to court documents.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked if Jon Snyder was threatened by the federal government to cooperate with the FBI because of his tax charge.
“You didn’t feel threatened by the government?” Cacioppo asked.
“I did not feel threatened by the government,” Jon Snyder said.
Cacioppo asked about $5,000 Cortina loaned Jon Snyder.
John Snyder said it was a loan to help cover his legal expenses at the time.
Jon Snyder said he had paid half that amount back.
Cacioppo asked about claims Cortina also helped Jon Snyder buy a Mustang and got him wholesale pricing, and about work that he had done at Kustom Auto Body.
“He went and looked at it,” Jon Snyder said of the Mustang deal.
Before prosecutors moved onto the alleged towing bribery scheme, they wrapped up testimony on a second bribery count that claimed the Snyder steered a city contract to one firm and netted himself a $13,000 kickback.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but would up allegedly 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.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
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 advice Great Lakes Peterbilt about making similar changes.
Mike Matusak, of Pozzo Truck Centers, said his company would supply the truck chassis in partnership with other body companies to submit bids to Portage. Matusak said Pozzo sells Mack and Volvo trucks.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked if Matusak offered to demomonstrate a truck’s features.
Matusak said he met with the assistant streets superintendent and was told he didn’t need to bring a truck.
“You get the sense it’s a waste of time,” Matusak said.
James Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
FBI informant takes stand in Portage mayor's corruption case
NWI Times
January 29, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/fbi-informant-takes-stand-in-portage-mayor-s-corruption-case/article_684f1d35-5df5-575e-be1b-a5b9c81359b6.html
HAMMOND — Scott Jurgensen said he took up the FBI on its offer to become a confidential informant because he wanted "to do the right thing."
Jurgensen, a former Merrillville police officer turned tow truck company owner, took the stand Tuesday morning in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial.
Snyder is charged with two counts of bribery and one of tax obstruction. One bribery account alleges Snyder took $12,000 from John Cortina, who partnered with Jurgensen, to get on Portage's tow list.
Cortina pleaded guilty earlier this month to paying Snyder the bribe and is expected to be a government witness in the case.
Jurgensen said he first approached Snyder about getting on Portage's tow list in May 2014. During that meeting in Portage City Hall, Jurgensen testified Snyder directed him to Cortina, who owns Kustom Auto Body. Cortina had partnered with another tow company, Ambassador Towing, but Ambassador was being removed from the city's list, leaving Cortina without a partner.
Cortina provided storage yard and payment collection services to the tow companies.
"James Snyder told me Cortina meant a lot to him, and it was best to go through Cortina," Jurgensen testified under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson.
Jurgensen said he had not previously met Cortina, but knew of him. He said he stopped by Cortina's business one day to discuss the partnership.
"He (Cortina) felt he was close to the mayor, and he could get us on the tow list," Jurgensen testified.
Jurgensen said he gave Cortina $6,000 toward the $12,000 bribe, which was paid to Snyder in January 2016. Jurgensen said he received the tow contract from Portage in August 2016 and towed within the city until November 2016 when FBI agents issued search warrants on Cortina's property. Cortina and Snyder were indicted on Nov. 17, 2016.
UPDATE: Truck competitor says Portage bid process 'irregular,' 'unusual' in garbage truck purchase
NWI Times
January 28, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-truck-competitor-says-portage-bid-process-irregular-unusual-in/article_189ad855-bd7c-5e24-8ac9-eee823d89fe8.html
HAMMOND — Greg Dadlow said he was "kinda shocked" when Portage turned down a chance to try out one of his company's automated trash trucks.
"It kinda bothered me they did not want, did not need a demo," Dadlow, who worked at Pyramid Equipment of Rolling Prairie, Indiana, at the time, testified Monday afternoon in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial.
Dadlow said the process was "unusual" and "irregular."
Dadlow said his company offered four of the six lowest bids in the first round of trash truck purchases by the city in 2013. The contract for three trucks instead went to Great Lakes Peterbilt of Portage. Great Lakes Peterbilt's bid was nearly $60,000 higher than that of Pyramid Equipment.
Snyder is facing two counts of bribery and one of tax obstruction in the trial in U.S. District Court. One of the bribery counts alleges Snyder took a $13,000 bribe from Great Lakes Peterbilt in exchange for two contracts, totaling five trucks from the company.
Dadlow said his bid didn't meet the specifications for either the brand of chassis or body in the bid, but that, in his experience, sometimes a large cost reduction would outweigh the variations in the bid.
After the bids were open, Dadlow said he approached Assistant Street Department Superintendent Randy Reeder, who had been designated the point man in the city's switch to automated trash trucks, and offered the use of a demonstration truck to help sell his product.
Dadlow said an email to Reeder went unanswered and then a sales call and the offer of the demonstration truck was refused.
"Randy Reeder told me they knew what they were going to go with," he said, adding Reeder told him his company wasn't going to get the contract before the Board of Works officially voted.
Dadlow's testimony in the eighth day of the trial followed the second day of testimony from former Street Superintendent Steve Charnetzky, who first approached the FBI in September 2013 to alert them of possible wrongdoing by Snyder.
Under cross-examination Monday morning, Snyder's lead attorney said wrongdoing didn't cause the FBI to open an investigation into his client's activities, but, instead, a former employee scorned.
"Your feelings got hurt because you didn't have input in that process?" attorney Jackie Bennett asked Charnetzky Monday morning.
"Slight," Charnetzky replied.
Charnetzky testified last week he went to the FBI because he believed the bidding process for the garbage trucks was being done illegally, among other allegations.
Charnetzky told the jury he was left out of the bidding process, which was unusual considering his tenure as street superintendent and experience of more than 30 years on the job. Charnetzky testified Snyder gave the job to Reeder, and that at one point during the bid process, Reeder told him the mayor wanted Great Lakes Peterbilt to get the contract, no matter the price of their trucks.
Bennett questioned Charnetzky about the bidding process, timeline of his reporting and meetings with the FBI, and the reasons for Charnetzky's termination in January 2016.
Truck bidder says he thought Portage process didn't look right
Chicago Tribune
January 28, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-eight-st-0128-story.html
A company that aimed to win a Portage contract for garbage trucks knew something was not right when no one from the city would look at the equipment he planned to offer.
The eighth day of Portage Mayor James Snyder’s trial, federal prosecutors continued showing how the bid process for garbage trucks was allegedly rigged for one firm and reportedly netted the mayor a $13,000 payout. Defense attorneys have said there was nothing questionable about the bid process and it was all done above board.
Greg Dadlow, of Pyramid Equipment, said ahead of the bids for the garbage trucks in 2013 he wanted to let someone from the city’s streets department test his equipment but they said they already knew what they wanted.
Dadlow’s company submitted four bids for the trucks, each with a Mack chassis and either a Wayne or Bridgeport body. Those four bids were among the lowest, Dadlow said, and one was roughly $60,000 less than the company that won the contract.
“Sometime you don’t believe that could just be overlooked,” Dadlow said.
Snyder’s defense says those bids did not meet the specifications, which called for a Peterbilt chassis, a McNeilus body, a Cummins engine and a 150-day delivery date.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked why Dadlow submitted a bid if those items were specifically included in the specs.
Dadlow said he went through all the specs and in his proposal detailed how his equipment met the same requirements and even noted what differed between the machines.
Koster asked, as an example, if not having a McNeilus body automatically disqualified the Pyramid bid.
“No, it does not,” Dadlow said.
Dadlow said, in his experience, that municipalities will consider something besides the specs if the price is significantly different.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up allegedly 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.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
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.
It was the questionable bidding process that prompted Steve Charnetzky, Portage’s former streets superintendent, to raise the issue to the FBI.
On the witness stand, Charnetzky said he had heard that the mayor’s office and the assistant streets superintendent say the contract was going to Great Lakes Peterbilt
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said that Charnetzky testified that he was not involved in the bidding process for the garbage trucks and had no knowledge of what was submitted.
“Your statement about something illegal and unlawful is simply your opinion,” Bennett said.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract.
A third charge alleges Snyder obstructed or impeded Internal Revenue Service laws.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Snyder's lawyer: 'Hard feelings' spurred probe into Portage mayor's alleged wrongdoing
NWI Times
January 28, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/snyder-s-lawyer-hard-feelings-spurred-probe-into-portage-mayor/article_189ad855-bd7c-5e24-8ac9-eee823d89fe8.html
HAMMOND — Portage Mayor James Snyder's lead attorney said wrongdoing didn't cause the FBI to open an investigation into his client's activities, but, instead, a former employee scorned.
"Your feelings got hurt because you didn't have input in that process?" attorney Jackie Bennett asked longtime former Portage Street Department Superintendent Steve Charnetzky Monday morning.
"Slight," Charnetzky replied.
Bennett continued his cross-examination of Charnetzky Monday morning in day eight of Snyder's public corruption trial in U.S. District Court.
Charnetzky approached the FBI in September 2013 to allege wrongdoings against Snyder, including the steering of garbage truck bids toward Great Lakes Peterbilt, a Portage truck dealership.
Snyder allegedly took a $13,000 bribe from the company in exchange for the city's purchasing five automated garbage trucks from the company.
It is one of two bribery charges the two-term mayor is facing. The second involves accepting a bribe to place a company on the city's tow list. Snyder also is charged with tax obstruction.
Charnetzky testified last week he went to the FBI, because he believed the bidding process for the garbage trucks was being done illegally, among other allegations. Charnetzky told the jury he was left out of the bidding process, which was unusual considering his tenure as street superintendent and experience of more than 30 years on the job.
Charnetzky testified Snyder gave the job to his assistant, Randy Reeder, and that at one point during the bid process, Reeder told him the mayor wanted Great Lakes Peterbilt to get the contract, no matter the price of their trucks.
Bennett began cross-examining Charnetzky Friday and continued Monday.
Bennett questioned Charnetzky about the bidding process, timeline of his reporting and meetings with the FBI, and the reasons for Charnetzky's termination in January 2016.
Portage mayor's defense pushes back against rigged bids, bribery allegations on 6th day of trial
Chicago Tribune
January 26, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-six-st-0125-story.html
Defense attorneys for Portage Mayor James Snyder on Thursday sought to cast doubt on allegations that he accepted a bribe to award a city contract for garbage trucks.
On the sixth day of Snyder’s public corruption trial, defense attorneys questioned an FBI agent about a deal to sell garbage trucks to the city in 2013 that allegedly netted the mayor a $13,000 kickback. Attorneys aimed to show that there was nothing questionable about the deal, but federal prosecutors continued to point out that a fix was in.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo asked about the bids for the first round of garbage trucks, which Great Lakes Peterbilt, then owned by Robert and Steve Buha, won.Cacioppo said that firm was the lowest and most responsive bidder.
Cacioppo pointed out that nine firms with lower bid amounts did not meet the specifications the city asked for, which included a Peterbilt chassis and a McNeilus body. She said the bid also sought a Cummins engine but many bidders proposed trucks with Volvo engines.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked Eric Field, a supervisory special agent with the FBI, what companies the city asked to design the bid specs.
Field said Peterbilt and McNeilus.
Cacioppo said during the second round of bids, the city saw a chance to save money with a 2012 chassis sitting on the lot. She asked if Field knew of any differences between the models besides the size of the transmission.
Field said the transmission and the emissions standards.
“Was that purchase in accordance with the invitation to bid that was issued by the city?” Koster asked.
“No,” Field said. He said the 2012 model-year truck was not the manufacturer’s current production model.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but would up allegedly steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Great Lakes Peterbilt is now owned by a different firm.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
Federal prosecutors this week began going over the bribery charge, with jurors hearing testimony that Snyder never disclosed he received income from a company doing business with the city, and that the FBI could not find documentation that justified the payment.
Prosecutors Thursday played a series of clips from an FBI interview with Snyder at city hall where they asked about the garbage truck contracts, and Snyder, in the recordings, denied any wrongdoing.
“He’s had to win the bids,” Snyder said on the recording. “I had nothing to do with that process.”
Snyder also told the FBI during that interview his contract with Great Lakes Peterbilt was for consulting services about health care and technology matters.
During that interview, Snyder said that the income would have to be disclosed in an annual filing.
Koster said even after being interviewed by the FBI that income was never disclosed.
“Correct,” Field said.
Cacioppo said there’s no evidence that the $13,000 was a bribe.
“No, that’s not correct,” Field said.
Cacioppo said the FBI was “extremely focused” on making a case against Snyder.
Field said the FBI was trying to determine if any criminal activity took place.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract.
A third charge alleges Snyder obstructed or impeded Internal Revenue Service laws.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Power in the courtroom flickered before going out Thursday morning.
“The government’s on shutdown,” Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen said, before recessing the jury until the courtroom’s equipment restarted.
Van Bokkelen said the outage was caused by a NIPSCO issue.
Feds reveal they had evidence that Portage Mayor James Snyder committed mortgage fraud, but didn't pursue charges
Chicago Tribune
January 25, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-new-allegations-st-0127-story.html
Federal prosecutors have said they had enough evidence to charge Portage Mayor James Snyder with additional crimes but did not pursue the case.
Comments and testimony during Snyder’s public corruption trial indicated that federal authorities not only had enough evidence to warrant charges of bribery and obstructing the IRS, but admitted the mayor may have been involved with another alleged crime.
Eric Field, a supervisory special agent with the FBI, said investigators looked into possible mortgage fraud, and found evidence that it had occurred.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said investigators had enough evidence to charge Snyder with mortgage fraud but used their discretion not to prosecute.
Jayna Cacioppo, one of Snyder’s defense attorneys, decried the comment as “highly prejudicial.”
Throughout the first seven days of Snyder’s trial, federal prosecutors have tried to show a jury a pattern of schemes the mayor allegedly came up with to hide assets from the IRS and solicit a $13,000 kickback by steering garbage truck purchases to one business.
Defense attorneys have sought to discredit the allegations, which they called “lies,” and detail how the FBI spent years looking into allegations made by political opponents in search of a way to charge Snyder.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract.
A third charge alleges Snyder obstructed or impeded Internal Revenue Service laws.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Field testified last week that the investigation into Snyder began in 2013 when the Merrillville office received two anonymous reports about the mayor’s conduct.
Snyder’s defense attorneys have tried to show that federal investigators were “extremely focused” on drumming up charges against the mayor, but an FBI agent revealed that they did turn up other potential criminal misconduct.
“You didn’t actually know what you were looking for did you?” Cacioppo asked. She said that the initial report did not turn out being credible.
Cacioppo said the FBI seized emails from the mayor’s personal and government account; emails from his assistant; and emails from the assistant streets superintendent. Cacioppo said the FBI threatened to prosecute the mayor’s brother if he didn’t wear a wire to gather evidence against Snyder.
Cacioppo said the FBI had hundreds of subpoenas and search warrants in attempts to gather evidence against Snyder. She said they got bank records of Snyder and his businesses; and sought records from Sam’s Club, Best Buy, Talbots, the mayor’s church and even a soccer club.
Field said it is the FBI’s duty to investigate all allegations, and determine if any criminal activity took place.
Bid process 'was being done illegally,' former Portage official told FBI
NWI Times
January 25, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/bid-process-was-being-done-illegally-former-portage-official-told/article_490ebf40-b4d5-5034-85b2-9c15d7893ad6.html
HAMMOND — The bid process for new garbage trucks was rigged, former Portage Street Superintendent Steve Charnetzky told jurors in Mayor James Snyder's public corruption case.
Charnetzky told the jury his opinion of Snyder began to change when the mayor cut him out of the process to develop bids for new automated garbage trucks. He said Snyder appointed his assistant, Randy Reeder, to the task.
The garbage trucks are the center of one of the bribery charges. Snyder is accused of taking $13,000 from Great Lakes Peterbilt, a truck dealership, in return for steering the bids to that company.
"I felt the bid process was being done illegally, and I didn't want it to tarnish the department or myself," Charnetzky told jurors Friday about why he reached out to the FBI.
Charnetzky told jurors he had 31 years of experience on the department, 20 as superintendent. He said he had been responsible for drawing up bid specifications numerous times in his tenure. In each instance, he said, he would form a committee of workers who used the piece of equipment to draw up the bids.
In previous testimony this week, FBI Special Agent Eric Field testified Reeder used bid specifications from Peterbilt and McNeilius, a truck body manufacturing company, to formulate the bids.
Charnetzky said Reeder told him he was directed to award the bid to Great Lakes Peterbilt "regardless of how high the bid is."
Charnetzky said Snyder also told him to begin "writing up" head mechanic John Beck to lay a case to fire Beck because Beck was causing problems over the garbage truck bids.
Charnetzky also authenticated audiotapes of a meeting he secretly recorded. In the meeting, City Attorney Gregg Sobkowski questioned Reeder about the development of the bid specifications.
Charnetzky voted for Portage Mayor James Snyder twice before asking the FBI to investigate Snyder.
"I'm not really a politician. I feel I vote for the best man or woman," Charnetzky told jurors in the seventh day of Snyder's public corruption case.
Less than two years after Charnetzky voted for Snyder the second time and after Snyder returned Charnetzky to the job of street superintendent, Charnetzky was one of two men who alerted the FBI to Snyder's possible wrongdoings in September 2013. That contact led to the FBI opening the investigation into Snyder in November 2013 and resulted in Snyder being indicted in November 2016 on two charges of bribery and one count of tax obstruction.
City Councilman Pat Clem, D-2nd, was reported as the second man who approached the FBI with information to launch the investigation.
Prosecutors say Snyder lacked credentials to justify $13K payment
Chicago Tribune
January 25, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-seven-st-0126-story.html
Federal prosecutors on Friday showed that Portage Mayor James Snyder could not have acted as a consultant to justify a $13,000 check they say is an alleged bribe.
During the seventh day of Snyder’s trial, federal prosecutors asked witnesses about what qualifications a person would need to be considered to consult on health care issues or technology, seeking to establish that the Portage mayor met none of them. Snyder has said that he did legitimate consulting to justify a $13,000 payment that prosecutors say is an alleged bribe.
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.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up allegedly 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.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, which state records showed had been dissolved.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked Randall Evans, deputy commissioner of the Indiana Department of Insurance, about what would require someone to get a license for health care consulting.
Koster asked if someone accepts money from a corporation in exchange for health care advice if they are considered a consultant per state law.
“Yes, they are,” Evans said.
If someone accepts money from a corporation to give advice on the Affordable Care Act or health care benefit for union and non-union employees, does that require a license, Koster asked.
Evans said they would need a license.
Koster asked if Evans found any records that Snyder ever had or even applied for a health care consulting license.
Evans said no records were found.
Defense attorney Vivak Hadley asked about the law’s definition of a health care consultant, and pointed out that it says the advice must be about a particular policy.
Grant Andres, of the Idea Group, said he had worked on technology upgrades for Portage, and had a few meetings with Snyder.
Andres said Snyder had a general knowledge of technology.
“He’s not a technical individual, no,” Andres said.
Koster asked Andres if he thought Snyder was qualified.
“I would not hire him as an IT consultant,” Andres said.
Josh Pagel, an IT professional, said he worked on a review of the city’s technology infrastructure, and made recommendations about possible improvements.
Koster asked if Pagel found Snyder had a highly technical knowledge.
“Not at all,” Pagel said.
Defense attorney Neal Brackett asked if Pagel was a licensed consultant or had other credentials.
“No, there’s not a requirement,” Pagel said.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say he allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Portage Board of Works contract.
A third charge alleges Snyder obstructed or impeded Internal Revenue Service laws.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, who was indicted at the same time as Snyder, pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Before inspiring FBI corruption probe, ex-official voted twice for Portage's Mayor Snyder
NWI Times
January 25, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/before-inspiring-fbi-corruption-probe-ex-official-voted-twice-for/article_490ebf40-b4d5-5034-85b2-9c15d7893ad6.html
HAMMOND — Steve Charnetzky voted for Portage Mayor James Snyder twice before asking the FBI to investigate Snyder.
"I'm not really a politician. I feel I vote for the best man or woman," Charnetzky told jurors in the seventh day of Snyder's public corruption case.
Less than two years after Charnetzky voted for Snyder the second time and after Snyder returned Charnetzky to the job of street superintendent, Charnetzky was one of two men who alerted the FBI to Snyder's possible wrongdoings in September 2013. That contact led to the FBI opening the investigation into Snyder in November 2013 and resulted in Snyder being indicted in November 2016 on two charges of bribery and one count of tax obstruction.
Charnetzky took the stand Friday shortly before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen broke for lunch. He was expected to testify Friday afternoon in regard to secret audio recordings he made of meetings prior to leaving his job in December 2016.
Earlier this week, FBI agent Eric Field identified Charnetzky as one of the people who originally alerted the FBI.
During the testimony, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster played one of the audiotapes for jurors of a meeting between Charnetzky, Assistant Street Superintendent Randy Reeder and City Attorney Gregg Sobkowski. They discussed the development of bid specifications for new city garbage trucks.
One of Snyder's bribery charges alleges he took $13,000 from Great Lakes Peterbilt, a local truck dealership, in return for the purchase of some $1 million in garbage trucks.
Snyder's attorneys objected to the tapes, but Van Bokkelen allowed them to be played contingent on Charnetzky testifying to their authenticity.
Trucking firm picked up part of tab for Snyder's Austrian trip, jury told
NWI Times
January 24, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/trucking-firm-picked-up-part-of-tab-for-snyder-s/article_3ebbd4d5-8a8d-5039-8041-47393b30d799.html
HAMMOND — City Councilman Pat Clem's suspicion that a local trucking firm was helping pay for Portage Mayor James Snyder's European vacation raised eyebrows at the FBI.
Clem, D-2nd, was identified during the Republican mayor's trial in U.S. District Court on Thursday as the second person who entered the FBI’s Merrillville office in September 2013 and requested an investigation into Snyder's alleged wrongdoings.
Under cross-examination by Snyder’s defense attorney, Jayna Cacciapo, FBI agent Eric Field confirmed Clem and former Street Superintendent Steve Charnetzky brought information to the FBI alleging, among other things, that Great Lakes Peterbilt had paid a substantial portion of Snyder’s trip to Austria.
That wasn’t the only accusation made against Snyder, said Field, adding another allegation was that two city employees were working on city time for Snyder’s personal mortgage company.
Field testified that while some of the information didn’t pan out and result in charges, the allegations that the trucking firm financed some $5,000 of the mayor’s trip led to discovering a $13,000 check from Great Lakes Peterbilt to Snyder for consulting services.
Field continued his direct testimony Thursday morning on the alleged $13,000 bribe from Stephen and Robert Buha in return for two contracts totaling about $1 million for five garbage trucks.
During cross-examination by Cacciapo, Field said there was nothing wrong with some of Snyder’s activities.
Cacciapo asked Field about the legality of holding golf outings, taking political donations and hosting a mayoral ball.
“There’s nothing wrong with that?” she asked Field.
“No,” he replied each time.
Cacciapo also questioned Field as to whether the investigation was politically motivated, considering both Clem and Charnetzky are Democrats and both supported Snyder’s opponent in the 2015 mayoral election. Charnetzky had previously supported Snyder in the 2011 election and was rehired by Snyder as his street superintendent in 2012.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 on charges of felony bribery, extortion and tax dodging counts, which carry long prison terms if he is convicted.
The trial continued Thursday afternoon.
Questioning of alleged $13K payoff to Portage mayor begins
Chicago Tribune
January 24, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-four-st-0123-story.html
If $13,000 paid to Portage Mayor James Snyder for work he did through a private company for a city contractor was legitimate, federal prosecutors Tuesday questioned why it wasn’t disclosed.
Federal prosecutors began presenting evidence to back up a bribery charge during the fourth day of Snyder’s trial, asking another top-ranking Portage elected official about legally required disclosures that the mayor and others have to fill out.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up allegedly steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, and the city wound up with older trucks than what was asked for.
The defense has said nothing was wrong with the bidding process for the garbage trucks and that Snyder did contract work for Great Lakes Peterbilt, through his company SRC, to warrant the payment for services rendered.
Portage Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham, who recently announced he’d seek the Democratic nomination for mayor in the May primary, said that elected officials and city department heads must submit a statement of economic interest, and among the disclosures are if that person has received any compensation from a city contractor or an entity in the queue for city business.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said her office asked Stidham to supply those forms from 2012 to the present.
Koster said Snyder’s disclosure forms from 2014 listed nothing, and a 2013 form listed $250 for lodging and another $75 for meals from Circle R Electric.
Koster pointed out two city initiatives on health care and technology that both Stidham and the mayor were a part of. She said in both instances the city had outside consultants help evaluate the city’s needs and make recommendations.
Koster asked if after the health insurance project if Stidham felt qualified to consult on health care.
“No,” Stidham said.
Koster asked what he thought of Snyder acting as a health care consultant after attending those same meetings.
“We were all relying heavily on the consultant,” Stidham said.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. began questioning Stidham’s relationship with a former city contractor, and if any of that was disclosed.
Bennett asked about a series of payments made to three companies, which at the time were run by the woman, who is now the clerk-treasurer’s wife. Bennett noted in sum more than $50,000 was paid to those companies in 2015 and 2016.
Stidham said those payments were for bookkeeping and bank reconciliation services.
Stidham said his department has its own budget, and he is permitted to hire contracts and make purchase if they are under certain amounts. Stidham said a small purchasing policy applies to the whole city.
Koster asked if after their marriage if any more payments went to any of those companies.
“No,” Stidham said.
Koster said the forms say to list any income or gifts to that person or any dependent. She asked if prior to his marriage if any payments went to him or any dependents.
“No,” Stidham said.
During testimony earlier Tuesday, Koster pointed out that the bids for the garbage trucks were sent directly to the mayor’s office, and after it was approved Stidham had to ask for a copy of the tabulations for what was submitted.
Bennett asked if Stidham had heard any complaints about the bidding process.
“No vendor has complained to me directly,” Stidham said.
Peyton Harrell, a director of network development for Peterbilt Motors Company in Texas, testified that federal emissions standards changed in 2013, and earlier models would not meet those thresholds. Harrell said that change would not prevent a local dealer from selling those trucks.
Defense attorney Vivak Hadley said Peterbilt is a well-regarded American company, and routinely wins state and local bids for its trucks. Hadley asked if he thought it made sense Peterbilt won the bid as the most responsive and lowest priced.
“Lowest priced would surprise me,” Harrell said.
Koster asked about one particular truck that Great Lakes Peterbilt had on its lot for about two years that wound up being sold to the city.
“Do you agree that on Friday, Dec. 12, 2013, that vehicle was not the same as the manufacturer’s current production model?” Koster asked.
“It was not the same,” Harrell said.
Snyder’s trial started last week as federal prosecutors aimed to paint the mayor as someone who allegedly came up with schemes to obstruct the IRS, bilked $13,000 from a Board of Public Works contract for trash trucks, and netted $12,000 by getting a company a spot on Portage’s tow list. The defense has said the charges against Snyder are lies.
Testimony last week began going through the obstructing the IRS charge, detailing for a jury how Snyder allegedly submitted paperwork to settle his business and personal tax debt but did not give a full picture of his finances.
The defense has said that Snyder was only trying to deal with issues related to his failing mortgage company and did not aim to obstruct the IRS. The defense said that Snyder paid all of his personal income tax debt and is still making timely payments on what is owned by his mortgage company.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract.
A third charge alleges Snyder obstructed or impeded Internal Revenue Service laws.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
FBI tip, secret tape from Portage mayor's appointee fueled corruption probe, jury told
NWI Times
January 23, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/fbi-tip-secret-tape-from-portage-mayor-s-appointee-fueled/article_f27a6af0-1869-5404-8453-37c60eef095f.html
HAMMOND — Former Portage Street Superintendent Steve Charnetzky walked into the FBI office in Merrillville, providing a tip that helped launch a three-year probe into possible wrongdoings by Portage Mayor James Snyder, a federal jury was told Wednesday.
Charnetzky also provided the FBI secret recordings of a meeting between himself, the city's attorney and the point person involved in the development of garbage truck bids which are at the center of one of the three charges Snyder's facing at trial.
The initial tip led to a more than three-year investigation resulting in a November 2016 three-count indictment against Snyder including two counts of bribery and one of tax obstruction.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Eric Field spent Wednesday morning on the stand in U.S. District Court in the fifth day of Snyder's public corruption trial.
"Two individuals came in and provided me with information," Field recounted as he told of the beginning of the investigation in September 2013.
Later, in questioning by assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster, Field named Charnetzky as one of the two individuals who stepped into the FBI's Merrillville office that day.
Charnetzky had worked as street superintendent for 16 years before he was replaced by then Mayor Olga Velazquez in 2008. Charnetzky had run against Velazquez in the 2007 Democrat mayoral primary. Snyder, a Republican, rehired Charnetzky, who had been a political supporter of Snyder, in 2012. Charnetzky retired from the city in January 2016.
An audio tape, secretly recorded by Charnetzky was conditionally entered into evidence Wednesday. The recording was a conversation primarily between City Attorney Gregg Sobkowski and assistant Street Superintendent Randy Reeder on the development of specifications for new automated trash trucks.
One of the bribery charges against Snyder alleges he took a $13,000 bribe from Stephen and Robert Buha, brothers who owned Great Lakes Peterbilt in Portage at the time. The brothers have since sold the dealership.
Prosecutors allege Reeder, under the direction of Snyder, steered the bids towards Great Lakes Peterbilt. The city purchased five automated trucks from them in 2013 for about $1 million.
Defense attorney Jayna Cacioppo objected to the introduction of the audiotape, saying Koster had not laid sufficient foundation to authenticate the tape.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen conditionally accepted the tape on the consideration Charnetzky be called to testify at a later date to authenticate the recording.
In the recording, Sobkowski is heard questioning Reeder as to how he developed the specifications for the bids.
Reeder is heard saying various vendors brought trucks to the city to look at.
"We came up with a general idea of what we wanted, and then I approached these two companies and asked they give us the specs," Reeder is heard saying, referring to Great Lakes Peterbilt and McNeilus, a Minnesota-based company that manufactures truck bodies.
"You kinda combine those two together to come up with specs for our garbage trucks?" Sobkowski asked.
"Yes," Reeder answered.
Reeder is also heard saying they put a 150-day delivery time frame in the bid because he had asked both companies beforehand if they could make that deadline and they said yes.
Peterbilt received the contract for the three trucks during the first round of bidding in early 2013, but was not the lowest bidder. Their price, $712,882, was some $59,000 higher than the lowest bid received, but were the only ones to meet the 150-day deadline.
Field also testified the Buha brothers made donations to Snyder, between 2012 and 2013, of about $11,000 for Snyder's mayoral ball, golf outing and to help pay for a trip for Snyder and his wife to Austria, Germany and Croatia. At the same time, Field testified, the company was struggling financially and Stephen Buha took $250,000 from his retirement account to keep the company afloat.
Field testified the check to Snyder for consulting fees went to a nonexistent company, SRC Consulting, just one week after Snyder signed a purchase order for the purchase of two more trucks from the company in January 2014.
FBI says it couldn't find reason for $13k payment to Portage Mayor James Snyder
Chicago Tribune
January 23, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-five-st-0124-story.html
An FBI agent testified Wednesday that he found no documentation to show that Portage Mayor James Snyder did work to justify a $13,000 payout.
Eric Field, a supervisory special agent with the FBI, took the stand Wednesday and said that during his more than three-year investigation into Snyder, he failed to turn up documents that explained why Great Lakes Peterbilt paid the mayor $13,000 after being awarded two Portage contracts for garbage trucks.
Field said he asked Great Lakes Peterbilt for any documents explaining the consulting services Snyder provided, including invoices, work product or logs of hours worked.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked if Field received any of that material.
“No,” Field said.
Koster asked if he sought those records from the mayor and if he received them.
“No, we did not,” Field said.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up allegedly steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, and the city wound up with older trucks than what was asked for.
Field said that Snyder’s SRC Properties and SRC Marketing companies were administratively dissolved in 2013, according to state records.
The Great Lakes Peterbilt check was sent to SRC after it was disbanded, Field said.
Field said the investigation into Snyder began in September 2013 when two people went to the FBI with information. Field said one of those was the then superintendent of the streets department who mentioned the Great Lakes Peterbilt deal.
Documents and testimony presented during the trial show that Snyder reportedly directed Randy Reeder, the assistant superintendent of the streets department, to prepare the bid specs for the garbage trucks. Field said that Reeder reportedly reached out the Great Lakes Peterbilt and another firm to get their thoughts on what to ask for.
Reeder reportedly also asked Peterbilt and the other firm what time frame the city should seek for truck deliver, according to evidence presented in court, and they both thought 150 days was reasonable.
Koster pointed out that Great Lakes Peterbilt was the only firm that could meet the 150 day delivery requirement. She said that nine other bidders had a lower price for the trucks than Great Lakes Peterbilt.
The Board of Works accepted the Great Lakes Peterbilt bid and rejected the others for not being responsive.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract.
A third charge alleges Snyder obstructed or impeded Internal Revenue Service laws.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Questioning of alleged $13K payoff to Portage mayor begins
Chicago Tribune
January 22, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-four-st-0123-story.html
If $13,000 paid to Portage Mayor James Snyder for work he did through a private company for a city contractor was legitimate, federal prosecutors Tuesday questioned why it wasn’t disclosed.
Federal prosecutors began presenting evidence to back up a bribery charge during the fourth day of Snyder’s trial, asking another top-ranking Portage elected official about legally required disclosures that the mayor and others have to fill out.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder first ran for mayor, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up allegedly steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
After getting those contracts, prosecutors said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company, and the city wound up with older trucks than what was asked for.
The defense has said nothing was wrong with the bidding process for the garbage trucks and that Snyder did contract work for Great Lakes Peterbilt, through his company SRC, to warrant the payment for services rendered.
Portage Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham, who recently announced he’d seek the Democratic nomination for mayor in the May primary, said that elected officials and city department heads must submit a statement of economic interest, and among the disclosures are if that person has received any compensation from a city contractor or an entity in the queue for city business.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said her office asked Stidham to supply those forms from 2012 to the present.
Koster said Snyder’s disclosure forms from 2014 listed nothing, and a 2013 form listed $250 for lodging and another $75 for meals from Circle R Electric.
Koster pointed out two city initiatives on health care and technology that both Stidham and the mayor were a part of. She said in both instances the city had outside consultants help evaluate the city’s needs and make recommendations.
Koster asked if after the health insurance project if Stidham felt qualified to consult on health care.
“No,” Stidham said.
Koster asked what he thought of Snyder acting as a health care consultant after attending those same meetings.
“We were all relying heavily on the consultant,” Stidham said.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. began questioning Stidham’s relationship with a former city contractor, and if any of that was disclosed.
Bennett asked about a series of payments made to three companies, which at the time were run by the woman, who is now the clerk-treasurer’s wife. Bennett noted in sum more than $50,000 was paid to those companies in 2015 and 2016.
Stidham said those payments were for bookkeeping and bank reconciliation services.
Stidham said his department has its own budget, and he is permitted to hire contracts and make purchase if they are under certain amounts. Stidham said a small purchasing policy applies to the whole city.
Koster asked if after their marriage if any more payments went to any of those companies.
“No,” Stidham said.
Koster said the forms say to list any income or gifts to that person or any dependent. She asked if prior to his marriage if any payments went to him or any dependents.
“No,” Stidham said.
During testimony earlier Tuesday, Koster pointed out that the bids for the garbage trucks were sent directly to the mayor’s office, and after it was approved Stidham had to ask for a copy of the tabulations for what was submitted.
Bennett asked if Stidham had heard any complaints about the bidding process.
“No vendor has complained to me directly,” Stidham said.
Peyton Harrell, a director of network development for Peterbilt Motors Company in Texas, testified that federal emissions standards changed in 2013, and earlier models would not meet those thresholds. Harrell said that change would not prevent a local dealer from selling those trucks.
Defense attorney Vivak Hadley said Peterbilt is a well-regarded American company, and routinely wins state and local bids for its trucks. Hadley asked if he thought it made sense Peterbilt won the bid as the most responsive and lowest priced.
“Lowest priced would surprise me,” Harrell said.
Koster asked about one particular truck that Great Lakes Peterbilt had on its lot for about two years that wound up being sold to the city.
“Do you agree that on Friday, Dec. 12, 2013, that vehicle was not the same as the manufacturer’s current production model?” Koster asked.
“It was not the same,” Harrell said.
Snyder’s trial started last week as federal prosecutors aimed to paint the mayor as someone who allegedly came up with schemes to obstruct the IRS, bilked $13,000 from a Board of Public Works contract for trash trucks, and netted $12,000 by getting a company a spot on Portage’s tow list. The defense has said the charges against Snyder are lies.
Testimony last week began going through the obstructing the IRS charge, detailing for a jury how Snyder allegedly submitted paperwork to settle his business and personal tax debt but did not give a full picture of his finances.
The defense has said that Snyder was only trying to deal with issues related to his failing mortgage company and did not aim to obstruct the IRS. The defense said that Snyder paid all of his personal income tax debt and is still making timely payments on what is owned by his mortgage company.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract.
A third charge alleges Snyder obstructed or impeded Internal Revenue Service laws.
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. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Bribery charges now are focus in Portage mayor's trial
NWI Times
January 22, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/bribery-charges-now-are-focus-in-portage-mayor-s-trial/article_6de9e5cf-8839-5af7-9810-843edae0d601.html
HAMMOND —As the focus of Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial moved Tuesday from tax obstruction to bribery, his defense team attempted to paint the case as politically motivated.
Snyder's 2016 indictment alleges he took a $13,000 bribe in return for steering more than $1 million in city contracts to Great Lakes Peterbilt for garbage trucks.
When defense attorney Jackie Bennett cross-examined Portage Clerk-treasurer Chris Stidham, questioning turned to what Bennett called "political intrigue" in the case.
"It is politically in your best interest if Snyder doesn't run again," Bennett said, referring to Stidham's run this year for Snyder's seat as mayor. Stidham is a Democrat, and Snyder is a Republican.
Snyder contends the $13,000 to Great Lakes Peterbilt was a payment for health care and internet technology consulting services he did for the Portage company.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster questioned Stidham about the city's bidding process, and in particular, two rounds of bids for automated trash trucks.
Koster also questioned Stidham about the city's use of consultants for health care insurance and internet technology services.
Stidham testified the city hired consultants for both services and Snyder infrequently participated in committee meetings or other discussions involving the two subjects.
Stidham said he was surprised when Snyder allegedly told him Snyder was acting as a health care consultant for an outside company. He also testified Snyder had no knowledge beyond an "average person" of internet technology.
Koster also questioned Stidham filing financial disclosure forms by both Snyder and Assistant Street Department Superintendent Randy Reeder.
That questioning turned on Stidham during the cross-examination by Bennett, who asked Stidham about payments he made to three companies owned by his now-wife during 2015 and 2016. The couple were married in 2016.
Bennett said Stidham paid his then-girlfriend $50,000.
Stidham said he hired her at the time to do bookkeeping-type duties, including bank reconciliation services for his department. Stidham said that information wasn't on his own financial disclosure because the two were not married at the time.
Stidham also testified he made the payments under the city's small purchases policy, just like any other department head. He said it is not uncommon for him to hire outside contractors to help with that sort of work, and he no longer hired his now wife after their marriage in August 2016.
The only other witness Tuesday was Boyton Harrell, director of dealer network development for Peterbilt in Denton, Texas.
Harrell was questioned about the financial stability of Great Lakes Peterbilt during the time of the garbage truck purchases. The company was owned then by Robert and Steve Buha. They have since sold the company.
Harrell said the local dealership was having performance issues and was in poor financial shape for four or five years, owing the company a significant amount of money for the purchase of trucks.
Both Stidham and Harrell were also questioned about the bid specifications and whether one truck in particular met those specifications.
The specifications were drawn up with Reeder as the point person, but upon consultation with others, Stidham testified.
The bid specifications called for new, unused "current production" models.
Harrell testified one of the trucks, referred to as vehicle 412, was not a current model when sold to the city. It was a model year 2012. A new truck sold to the city in 2013 would have been a model year 2014.
Harrell said one difference between the two model years was the truck's engine. The 2012 model would have contained a 2010 emissions engine while the 2014 model would have had a 2013 engine designed to follow more strict emissions standards.
The trial will continue for a shortened day on Wednesday at 9 a.m. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen said the trial will recess at noon on Wednesday. He did not specify the reason for the shortened day.
Tax preparer emails to Snyder reveal concern about what IRS auditors might find
NWI Times
January 16, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tax-preparer-emails-to-snyder-reveal-concern-about-what-irs/article_1d9c7929-ce10-50e7-83d2-89c7dffaa9c3.html
HAMMOND — Emails read Wednesday during Portage Mayor James Snyder's corruption trial revealed Snyder's tax preparer was worried about what IRS auditors might find.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson asked IRS agent Gerard Hatagan, who was testifying in federal court for the prosecution, to read emails between Snyder and his tax preparer, Steve Dolton.
The first email, sent to Snyder from Dolton on Oct. 6, 2012, read: "I buried a lot, but I don't think I could risk killing any more of the incomes." Dolton said he was concerned about what auditors might uncover.
The first email also discussed loans from Snyder's company, SRC Properties, to his mortgage company and to himself.
Dolton helped prepare Snyder's income taxes in 2010 and 2011.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen allowed the emails into evidence over the objection of Snyder's lawyer, Neal Brackett, who said they were not relevant and inflammatory.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 on two counts of bribery and attempting to obstruct the Internal Revenue Service from collecting payroll taxes from his mortgage business, First Financial Trust Mortgage, and his personal income taxes.
Prosecutors allege Snyder schemed to hide income from the IRS as he attempted to negotiate a settlement with the IRS to pay the back taxes.
A second email to Snyder from Dolton, a few days after the one from Oct. 6, 2012, spoke of concerns Dan Pickart, Snyder's accountant, might have with the tax returns.
"He (Pickart) knows we fabricated some of this," Dolton wrote. "He's going to start asking questions on loans and cars and such."
Hatagan testified throughout the morning.
Van Bokkelen also voiced concerns Wednesday morning about the tax charge against Snyder.
As prosecutors and defense attorneys argued about the emails, Van Bokkelen noted concerns involving the charge, though he declined to elaborate further from the bench.
"I have some problems with that count," the judge said in overruling the defense's objections about the emails being admitted as evidence. "If it plays out, that count may be gone."
"I'm sort of talking out loud right now. I have not drawn any conclusions. I have some concerns right now," Van Bokkelen said, adding he wanted to let the testimony play out before deciding.
"I've said too much already."
After Benson completed his questioning of Hatagan Wednesday afternoon, Brackett cross examined the IRS agent, questioning him about some of the forms and suggesting income information was included, but not properly identified.
Van Bokkelen recessed the court, admonishing jurors not to discuss the case over the next five days. Court is scheduled to reconvene at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22.
Prosecutors probe Portage Mayor James Snyder's tax documents, income disclosures as trial continues
Chicago Tribune
January 16, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-three-st-0117-story.html
Federal prosecutors Wednesday laid out how Portage Mayor James Snyder allegedly failed to disclose information to the IRS as part of a scheme to avoid paying tax debt.
During the third day of Snyder’s trial, federal prosecutors worked through voluminous tax documents and campaign records to show the jury how the mayor allegedly hid assets from the IRS as the federal agency aimed to collect on his personal and business debt.
Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen recessed the trial until next Tuesday, and federal prosecutors will continue presenting evidence.
The defense has said that Snyder was only trying to deal with issues related to his failing mortgage company and did not aim to obstruct the IRS. The defense noted that Snyder paid all of his personal income tax debt and is still making timely payments on what is owned by his mortgage company.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson questioned Gerard Hatagan, a special enforcement program revenue agent with the IRS, about the tax debt Snyder aimed to settle and the information he allegedly failed to disclose.
Benson asked about a January 2010 employment agreement with GVC, a mortgage company, and if that was listed by Snyder in forms to settle his debt.
“It was not,” Hatagan said.
Benson showed a W-2 form that showed GVC paid Snyder $141,891.27 in gross wages in 2010.
Hatagan said Snyder represented to the IRS that he had no wages.
In documents seeking a settlement owned by First Financial Trust in 2011, Benson pointed out that not only did Snyder allegedly fail to disclose him employment with GVC, he did not list income from SRC, a company Snyder ran.
Benson said invoices show that SRC was billing the mortgage company for services and getting paid.
Hatagan said information on income from SRC should have been included.
Two sets of those documents were shown to the jury Wednesday: one that the IRS had that was missing two pages, and another from Snyder’s accountant that was complete.
Defense attorney Neal Brackett said based on what Snyder made as mayor and as the head of a city board wouldn’t account for all the salary listed on the IRS form.
Brackett asked if the agent knew if the income line on the form included Snyder’s wages from the mortgage company.
Hatagan said he does not believe that based on the information represented on the form.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating federal bribery statutes. Federal prosecutors say the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage. Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for allegedly accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract.
A third charge alleges Snyder obstructed or impeded internal revenue laws.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, who was indicted alongside the mayor, last week pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
Mayor portrayed as schemer who funneled bribes, didn't think rules applied
NWI Times
January 15, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mayor-portrayed-as-schemer-who-funneled-bribes-didn-t-think/article_d8fb6dd7-b5fa-5b09-bf5d-5295ed053678.html
HAMMOND — Portage Mayor James Snyder is either a consummate schemer or the victim of revenge and an overreaching government.
Those widely contrasting portrayals of Snyder during the second day of his felony public corruption trial in Hammond federal came courtesy of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster and defense attorney Jackie Bennett.
Koster outlined the charges against Snyder to the jury along with evidence prosecutors expect to present during what is estimated to be a four-week trial.
Snyder "does not think rules applied to him," Koster said, telling jurors the embattled mayor attempted to hide thousands of dollars in debt to the IRS through an elaborate scheme. That scheme included establishing a shell company to hide money from federal investigators in order to avoid paying both personal and business taxes.
Koster also told them Snyder funneled about $1.1 million in contracts to a local business in exchange for receiving a $13,000 bribe and received another $12,000 bribe for securing a towing contract with former co-defendant John Cortina. Cortina pleaded guilty last week to one count of offering the bribe in exchange for being put on the city government's coveted list of towing operators.
Koster said Snyder steered contracts for automated garbage trucks to Great Lakes Peterbilt of Portage in return for the $13,000. The money, she said, was under the guise of health care and internet technology consulting. Yet Snyder is an expert in neither field and holds no state health care license, Koster said.
Bennett painted Snyder as someone who was "socialized a little bit differently," growing up in a fundamental religious home that didn't allow him to watch television or movies. That, Bennett said, causes Snyder to communicate differently.
Bennett also called the charges "false" and "bogus."
He told jurors federal investigators went to great lengths to find evidence against Snyder but have twisted the facts in each of the charges.
Bennett said political opponents within the city fueled the investigation.
Bennett also began to insinuate the entire investigation may be based on revenge, telling jurors about former Portage Police Chief Mark Becker, who, before becoming police chief served as an FBI agent for 30 years.
Becker wanted to stay chief when Snyder was elected mayor, Bennett said, but it was Snyder's intent to replace him.
"He told Snyder 'you are going to regret it,'" Bennett said before the statement drew one of several objections from Koster and Assistant U.S. Attorney Phil Benson.
The two repeatedly objected to Bennett's statements, questioning the relevance of the information ranging from Snyder's childhood to the political make-up of the city.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen repeatedly told jurors to only consider information from the opening statement that could be supported by evidence as the trial continues.
Following the opening statements, prosecutors called their first witness, Elizabeth McQuen, a revenue officer with the Internal Revenue Service.
Witnesses were expected to be called throughout the afternoon as the trial continues.
Prosecutors say Portage mayor 'does not think the rules apply,' while defense says charges are 'lies'
Chicago Tribune
January 15, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-two-st-0116-story.html
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday painted Portage Mayor James Snyder as someone who moved from one scheme to another, but defense attorneys say those allegations are lies.
Opening statements in Snyder’s public corruption case started with prosecutors saying Snyder allegedly schemed to hide assets from the IRS; worked a garbage truck contract to net himself $13,000; and took $12,000 to get two men on the city’s towing list. The defense said those allegations are lies, and that the evidence will show the mayor did not engage in unlawful conduct.
“James Snyder does not think rules apply to him,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said the allegations in the indictment seem straightforward, but are false.
“These allegations are lies,” Bennett said. “On behalf of James Snyder, we are going to prove it.”
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for allegedly accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract, and allegedly obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, who was indicted alongside the mayor, last week pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the city’s tow list. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
When Snyder first ran for mayor, Koster said he told people he would automate the city’s trash collection. Koster said Snyder helped steer a contract for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt for garbage trucks.
After getting those contracts, Koster said Great Lakes Peterbilt gave Snyder a check for $13,000 payable to his shell company.
Koster said Great Lakes Peterbilt submitted a bid that sold the city older trucks than what other companies offered despite the specifications seeking new, unused equipment.
“Everything about the bid process with Great Lakes Peterbilt was fishy,” Koster said.
Since Snyder took office, Bennett said he has bought and paid for the new garbage trucks and lowered costs for the city. Snyder saw that the bids met what the city needed, Bennett said, and had his staff thoroughly research what was available.
Bennett said the owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt will testify that no bribe was paid. Bennett said prosecutors say that Snyder allegedly took $13,000 for contracts worth more than $1 million, but Great Lakes Peterbilt only made roughly $35,000 in profit.
Bennett said that doesn’t seem to add up.
“It was done according to the rules,” Bennett said.
But Snyder didn’t stop there, Koster said.
In 2016, Cortina teamed up with Scott Jurgensen, who was working with the FBI, and wanted to get on Portage’s tow list. The two allegedly gave Snyder $12,000.
“This was a bribe,” Koster said. “John Cortina knew it was a bribe. Scott Jurgensen knew it was a bribe.”
Bennett said that Cortina had partnered with another firm and been removed from the tow list. In 2016, Cortina was no longer on the list but a spot later opened after one of the three firms was not meeting the city’s expectations, Bennett said.
Cortina was a member of the mayor’s roundtable group, Bennett said, and the $2,000 check Snyder got was for that membership. Bennett said it is legal to pay legal expenses out of a campaign committee, and Snyder sought for a $10,000 loan from Cortina, who was a friend and political backer.
Snyder is also charged with obstructing or impeding the IRS, according to court documents.
Koster said that Snyder ran a mortgage company and did not racked up tens of thousands of dollars that he owed the IRS.
“So James Snyder had a problem,” Koster said. “He devised a scheme.”
Another mortgage firm merged with Snyder’s company, Koster said, and he allegedly set up a shell company that submitted invoices and got paid. Snyder was the only employee of the shell company, Koster said.
Snyder also had personal tax debt, Koster said, but did not tell the IRS about his shell company and its bank account.
“James Snyder deceived the IRS,” Koster said.
Bennett said Snyder had to deal with a failing business and has consistently made payments to the IRS to settle his debts. Bennett said there was no effort to hide anything, and an accountant will testify that little money was ever held in Snyder’s company account.
“The account never really held much money,” Bennett said.
Snyder has paid 100 percent of his personal debt to the IRS, Bennett said, and is still making payments on what was owed by his old mortgage company.
Bennett asked if that sounds like it impeded the IRS.
“It did not,” Bennett said.
Judge blocks Portage Mayor Snyder's attempt to get FBI records
Chicago Tribune
January 14, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-one-st-0112-story.html
A federal judge has temporarily barred attorneys for indicted Portage Mayor James Snyder from getting personnel records for an FBI agent.
Snyder’s legal team appeared in federal court Monday in Hammond at the start of the mayor’s public corruption trial, and started the day arguing to access records on an FBI agent who handled the case. Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen declined to allow the defense to get those records but will address the issue more as the trial progresses.
The first day of trial began with Van Bokkelen considering the personnel records issue and a second matter involving a conversation between a confidential source and the mayor. Once the judge handled those issues, he began the nearly five-hour process of seating 12 jurors and three alternates.
Opening arguments and witness testimony starts Tuesday.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract, and allegedly obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, who was indicted alongside the mayor, last week pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
The defense sought to subpoena the personnel records on an FBI agent who worked the Snyder case to investigate possible allegations that the agent “overreached” while seeking records during the investigation into the mayor.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said an attorney who once represented a witness in the case alleged that the FBI agent demanded attorney-client privileged material and even screamed at the attorney for not providing the records. Bennett said the attorney also alleged that the agent had been disciplined and transferred to another office because of his reported conduct.
“We don’t know if it’s true,” Bennett said. “It’s entirely possible it’s utterly false.”
Bennett said the defense sought the personnel records to explore the allegations made against the agent.
“This is a serious allegation,” Bennett said. He said what could be revealed in the personnel file would speak to the agent’s credibility.
Federal prosecutors asked the judge to block the subpoena, according to court records, and even a top FBI lawyer said that the information being sought was not subject to disclosure.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said any subpoena for records presented to the attorney would have come from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and not an individual FBI agent. Koster said there is nothing improper about the government seeking billing invoices from an attorney, and rebuffed comments about the agent’s temperament.
“I have never seen him lose his temper,” Koster said.
The agent had testified during prior evidentiary hearings, Koster said, and the defense had an opportunity to raise those questions. Koster said they likely didn’t because they knew the agent’s response would be no.
Koster said the agent took a promotion and was transferred to a new position in another office.
“This whole story, none of it adds up,” Koster said.
Van Bokkelen agreed to block the subpoena but left room for the defense to bring those issues up later in the trial.
The second issue involved a conversation Snyder had with a confidential source, later identified as his brother, Jon Snyder, that was reported back to the FBI. Van Bokkelen has agreed to suppress the contents of that conversation.
UPDATE: Both sides to lay out their cases in Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption case Tuesday morning
NWI Times
January 14, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-jury-selection-begins-in-portage-mayor-s-federal-public/article_1613ce87-4924-5d93-aa0a-54bdf4bf33e2.html
HAMMOND — Twelve jurors will begin hearing testimony Tuesday to decide whether Portage Mayor James Snyder took two bribes and manipulated a scheme to evade paying federal taxes.
The 12, along with three alternates were chosen after nearly five hours of closed door questioning by both defense and prosecuting attorneys in Snyder's public corruption case which began Monday nearly 26 months after he was indicted on the three counts. There were 10 men and five women chosen.
The jury selection process was closed to the media and public with officials citing the 68-person jury pool filled the courtroom to its capacity and outsiders weren't allowed to possibly mingle with potential jurors inside U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen's court room.
The jury will, beginning Tuesday at 9 a.m., hear opening statements from both sides. Each side has been given an hour to lay out their case. Following arguments, presentation of evidence and the calling of witnesses in the estimated four week-long case will begin.
Snyder gained a small victory as his case began Monday morning before prospective jurors were brought into the room.
Van Bokkelen ruled a conversation between Snyder and his brother, Jon Snyder, will not be admitted into court.
The conversation happened two days after the indictment was handed down.
While Van Bokkelen stated he didn’t believe there was anything worthwhile in the conversation, he said it should not have happened.
Van Bokkelen said the demarcation line should have been when the indictment was issued. Prosecutors crossed that line when a report was made on that conversation.
“At the end of the day, it probably makes no difference, other than it was wrong,” Van Bokkelen said.
Prosecutors received a boost when the judge ruled in their favor that the defense team had no right, for the time being, to view the full personnel file of an FBI agent involved in the investigation.
Snyder's attorney Jackie Bennett of Indianapolis argued they requested the personnel file of FBI agent Eric Fields after they received word Fields may have stepped over the line in demanding privileged information from Jon Snyder's attorney.
Bennett said Jon Snyder's attorney Christopher Buckley, now a Lowell judge, would testify Fields "screamed at him" to turn over the information. Only later, Bennett said, former U.S. Attorney David Capp and Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson told Buckley they didn't need the information for the grand jury because "Fields made a mistake."
Bennett said they wanted to review the personnel file to see if Fields overstepped and was disciplined for his behavior, including being transferred from the Merrillville office.
"This dog won't hunt," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster told the judge, saying they have no right to see Fields' personnel file. Citing a 1951 law protecting such files, Koster said it could set a dangerous precedent.
Koster said Fields' record was reviewed by the FBI's assistant counsel; that Fields was never disciplined and had applied for and received a promotion to work at the FBI headquarters.
Koster said there is nothing in Fields' file that would help the defense.
Van Bokklen said the Snyder team's subpoena was over broad and premature. Will granting the motion to suppress, he added he could reconsider the right to re-raise the issue if it becomes relevant in Fields' testimony.
The investigation
Snyder, a Republican in his second term as Portage's mayor, was indicted in November 2016 and charged with two counts of bribery and one count of tax evasion. He has been under investigation by the FBI for about five years.
John Cortina, 79, owner of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, pleaded guilty on Friday to paying Snyder a $12,000 bribe and has agreed to fully cooperate with federal prosecutors. He is expected at some point to testify against Snyder.
Also expected to testify is James Snyder's brother, Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder, who worked with the FBI as a confidential informant, secretly audio taping conversations with his brother and others. Jon Snyder pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor federal tax charge and is awaiting a February sentencing date.
Scott Jurgenson, owner of Sampson Towing, is also anticipated to testify during the trial. Jurgenson also worked as an undercover agent with the FBI during its investigation into corruption in government tow contracts in the Region.
Several other Portage officials and employees are also expected to take the stand.
Court documents have indicated there will be some 120,000 pages/pieces of evidence introduced during the trial along with some 20 undercover audio tapes.
UPDATE: Jury selection begins in Portage mayor's federal public corruption trial
NWI Times
January 14, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/education/undercover-tapes-alleged-bribes-and-schemes-accused-portage-mayor-to/article_b0dfddcd-a6c4-5d90-9db1-a08e15485258.html
HAMMOND — Shortly before noon Monday, 68 people were led into a federal courtroom.
For 15 of them, their lives will change over the next four weeks as jury selection begins in the Portage Mayor James Snyder public corruption case.
Snyder gained a small victory as his case began Monday.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen ruled a conversation between Snyder and his brother, Jon Snyder, will not be admitted into court.
The conversation happened two days after the indictment was handed down.
While Van Bokkelen stated he didn’t believe there was anything worth while in the conversation, he said it should not have happened.
Van Bokkelen said the demarcation line should have been when the indictment was issued. Prosecutors crossed that line when a report was made on that conversation.
“At the end of the day, it probably makes no difference, other than it was wrong,” Van Bokkelen said.
Prosecutors received a boost when the judge ruled in their favor that the defense team had no right, for the time being, to view the full personnel file of an FBI agent involved in the investigation.
The investigation
Snyder, a Republican and in his second term as Portage's mayor, was indicted in November 2016 and charged with two counts of bribery and one count of tax evasion. He has been under investigation by the FBI for about five years.
Van Bokkelen said Friday during a status hearing he anticipates the selection of a jury will be completed Monday and opening statements will be made Tuesday before prosecutors begin calling witnesses. The trial is anticipated to last four weeks.
John Cortina, 79, owner of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, pleaded guilty on Friday to paying Snyder a $12,000 bribe and has agreed to fully cooperate with federal prosecutors. He is expected at some point to testify against Snyder.
Also expected to testify is James Snyder's brother, Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder, who worked with the FBI as a confidential informant, secretly audio taping conversations with his brother and others. Jon Snyder pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor federal tax charge and is awaiting a February sentencing date.
Scott Jurgenson, owner of Sampson towing, is also anticipated to testify during the trial. Jurgenson also worked as an undercover agent with the FBI during its investigation into corruption in government tow contracts in the Region.
Several other Portage officials and employees are also expected to take the stand.
Court documents have indicated there will be some 120,000 pages/pieces of evidence introduced during the trial along with some 20 undercover audio tapes.
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