Sentencing for man indicted along with former Portage mayor moved to early 2020
Chicago Tribune
September 20, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-cortina-sentencing-moved-st-0921-20190920-qxmdjghuojdvbdrwfxq7n5enae-story.html
Sentencing for John Cortina, who was indicted alongside former Portage Mayor James Snyder in a bribery scheme in 2016, has been rescheduled to early next year, following Snyder’s sentencing.
In February, Snyder, 41, 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.
Cortina, 80, in January pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the city’s tow list. Cortina did not testify during the trial, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself, according to court documents.
Snyder’s sentencing was recently moved from Sept. 24 to two days in December “to allow time to rule on the pending post-trial motions,” according to court records.
On Dec. 6, the court will give the parties an opportunity to present evidence and any additional arguments regarding their objections to the pre-sentence report and sentencing factors, according to a Sept. 13 court order.
On Dec. 17, the court will issue a ruling regarding the objections to the pre-sentence report and will announce Snyder’s sentence, according to the court order.
Cortina’s sentencing had been scheduled for Oct. 1, but with the shift in Snyder’s sentencing, Cortina’s attorney requested that his client’s sentencing be reset to Jan. 10, 2020, according to court records.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys in Cortina’s case “request to continue Mr. Cortina’s sentencing hearing until shortly after the sentencing of James Snyder is complete,” according to court records.
Snyder, a Republican, was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statute and obstructing or impeding the IRS.
Prosecutors said 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.
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.
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 Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
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.
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.
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.
Former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, a Democrat, was indicted the same day as Snyder in a similar towing scheme. Buncich was found guilty and began serving a 15-year 8-month sentence in January 2018.
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