Friday, October 25, 2019
10252019 - News Article - Portage Board of Works seeks to recoup surety bond on Clerk-Treasurer
Portage Board of Works seeks to recoup surety bond on Clerk-Treasurer
Chicago Tribune
October 25, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-stidham-surety-bond-st-1027-20191025-3xirglak3naf7hfvxcgeujt2iq-story.html
The Portage Board of Works, made of mayoral appointees, on Tuesday approved a resolution calling on Mayor John Cannon to try to recover money from the insurance company holding a surety bond Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham.
It was the next move in a months-long campaign by Cannon and an “executive investigative committee” that alleged Stidham inappropriately paid nearly $60,000 in contracts without getting board of works approval between 2015 and 2016.
“We believe these funds were not approved,” Cannon said. “We know they were never on a docket. They were never approved by the board of works.”
The investigative committee also was made of Cannon appointees. Stidham said the move was “purely political, a way for (Cannon) to distract people from problems in his own administration.”
The resolution calls for Cannon to try to get Liberty Mutual to pay the city the almost $60,000 out of a $300,000 bond the insurance company holds on the elected clerk-treasurer. If Cannon is successful, and, Liberty Mutual pays the money to the city, the insurance company can seek to recoup its losses from Stidham.
“The board of works wants their money back,” Cannon said. “They believe the board never approved the payments. Their objective has been, I believe, to get the money back.”
Governmental entities, like cities and towns, get bonds on elected officials and others as insurance policies. If the public official does something to harm the entities they represent, those entities can try to recover any financial losses from the agencies holding the bonds.
The Indiana State Board of Accounts, or SBOA, and a special prosecutor, with investigative help form the Indiana State Police, have been investigating to determine if Stidham did anything inappropriate.
Stidham acknowledged the SBOA is still reviewing the matter, though he said an initial report from the SBOA indicated there have been problems with the board of works’ accounting for years.
“(Cannon) keeps jumping to conclusions because he’s trying to score political points,” said Stidham, who is not running for any office. “He won’t let the state process play out.”
Stidham lost a bid for the mayor’s office in the May primary and will leave the clerk-treasurer’s office at the end of December.
Monday, October 7, 2019
10072019 - News Article - Facebook post referencing Holocaust museums used to explain why portrait of disgraced Portage mayor still hangs in city hall
Facebook post referencing Holocaust museums used to explain why portrait of disgraced Portage mayor still hangs in city hall
POST-TRIBUNE
OCT 07, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-portage-snyder-portrait-st-1008-20191007-7m5xdqcz5baazhz4tklng34xvm-story.html
Cannon, a former city councilman who was selected by caucus to complete Snyder’s term and is running for mayor on the Republican ticket in the general election, said the picture, taken down in mid-February when Snyder was convicted on federal corruption charges, went back up sometime in May.
“It’s part of the historical record. The man was elected twice as mayor,” he said.
On a post to Cannon’s campaign Facebook page last month, someone asked why Snyder’s picture was still hanging in City Hall.
“If we have learned one thing in history is if we forget it we are doomed to repeat it. That is why there are holocaust museums,” part of the campaign Facebook response said. “Snyder’s photo will hang there until the end of time. His story, will be etched in Portage’s history, hopefully not ever repeat itself.”
Council President Sue Lynch, D-At large, who is running against Cannon for mayor, said after the picture went up again, she got several calls complaining that it was back.
“He’s a disgraced mayor. He shouldn’t be up there with those who didn’t disgrace the city,” she said, adding she found the mention of Holocaust museums “outrageous.”
Cannon said that comment wasn’t meant to compare the portrait to Holocaust museums, but to note knowing about history so it’s not repeated.
“In this case, the history of what happened to James Snyder is so a mayor won’t do it again,” he said.
Councilman Collin Czilli, D-5th, who said he took the portrait down the night of Snyder’s conviction in mid-February on two of three federal corruption charges with Cannon’s assistance, found Cannon’s comment about Holocaust museums “despicable.”
“There is no situation in which the Holocaust is comparable to any other situation in history unless it’s a genocide of the same magnitude,” Czilli said, adding Holocaust museums are meant to remember those who were murdered under the Nazi regime. “It’s just insane to me that anyone would make that comparison in the first place.”
He, Cannon and Lynch were in the lobby of City Hall and noticed Snyder’s picture the night Snyder was convicted. Cannon, Czilli said, held a chair still while Czilli took down the picture.
“He was there,” Czilli said, and was OK with taking the picture down. “He did not indicate otherwise."
Czilli said he does not feel that Snyder’s picture should be hanging with those of mayors who weren’t convicted while they were in office.
“It’s not erasing history. We’re not going to forget he was mayor,” Czilli said, adding Snyder’s name is on building plaques throughout the city that will remain.
Cannon, who admitted Snyder’s time as mayor ended “badly,” said that other communities with leaders who were convicted while in office have not erased their names or their former presence.
Lake Station officials are considering just that, though they haven’t made a decision yet.
In August, some city leaders said they wanted to remove former Democrat Mayor Keith Soderquist’s name removed from commemorative plaques and the city’s trash and recycling cans before his March release after serving a four-year sentence in federal prison for public corruption.
10072019 - Nine Years Ago Today, In Portage Indiana...
Stand up for what is right - even when no one else will...Defend others...NEVER back down...Be fierce...And always remember that somewhere out there, you are someone's only hope...
Thursday, October 3, 2019
10032019 - News Articles - Drama Queen/Former Portage Mayor James Snyder - Fighting Federal Conviction
Drama Queen/Former Portage Mayor James Snyder - Fighting Federal Conviction
When in the hell is former Portage Mayor James Snyder going to accept the fact that he has been federally convicted? Is Snyder so caught up in his world of lies and deception that he actually believes he has done no wrong - or does he believe that he is above the law - or, does he believe that he can out-smart the feds?
Whatever, eh. I just wonder where in the heck Snyder is getting all this money to pay for his legal fees...
Former Portage mayor who was convicted of bribery challenges immunity of two witnesses in trial
Chicago Tribune
September 30, 2019
The legal team for former Portage Mayor James Snyder, who was found guilty of bribery and obstructing the IRS, filed a motion Friday for clarification on the immunity status of two witnesses in his case.
In the motion, Snyder’s attorney, Jackie Bennett Jr., requests a clarification “regarding the status of the immunity” of the former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, Robert and Steve Buha, “in determining which witnesses to arrange for the upcoming Dec. 6, 2019, sentencing hearing.”
According to the motion, the Buhas “never had immunity to testify at trial, and only would have had immunity if the prosecutors had requested that their immunity be renewed.”
The brothers were granted immunity for their grand jury testimony.
“Since the Buhas received formal immunity, the immunity would have continued unless government counsel revoked it. It simply cannot simultaneously be true that they did not have immunity, but also that the prosecutor did not revoke their immunity,” Bennett wrote in the motion.
The motion seeks clarification regarding the discrepancies between the prosecutor’s in-court description of the mechanics of formal immunity and the Department of Justice policy, “which says the opposite," and between the in-trial statements of prosecutors that the Buhas did not have immunity.
A request was made for an order from the court ruling “that if the government does not reinstate the Buhas’ immunity, that the government cannot also seek enhancements to Mr. Snyder’s sentence on issues the Buhas could elucidate, since the government would also be depriving Mr. Snyder of witnesses useful if not necessary to rebutting those proposed enhancements," according to the motion.
Bennett could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.
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.
Snyder has agreed to forfeit $13,000 to the federal governments, documents said.
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.
Snyder, a Republican, was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statute and obstruction 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.
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.
In September, Snyder’s sentencing date had been pushed back a second time 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 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.
Following Snyder’s sentencing delay, John Cortina, who was indicted alongside the mayor, requested his sentencing be reset to Jan. 10.
Federal prosecutors said Snyder allegedly solicited money from Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Cortina, 80, 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 has maintained his innocence during the more than two years since he was indicted.
Conclusion to Portage bribery case delayed again
NWI Times
September 23, 2019
HAMMOND — An auto repair shop operator caught up in the Portage bribery scandal won’t be sentenced until early next year.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen issued a notice last weekend that he will delay the sentencing of John Cortina of Kustom Auto Body in Portage from next Tuesday to Jan. 10, 2020.
Cortina pleaded guilty in January this year to a felony count alleging he paid a $12,000 bribe to former Portage Mayor James Snyder in early 2016 to obtain city towing business.
A federal grand jury indicted both Cortina and Snyder in late 2016 on bribery counts.
Snyder maintains his innocence, and a federal jury acquitted Snyder Feb. 14 this year of receiving a $12,000 bribe from Cortina.
Nevertheless, the same jurors did convict Snyder of accepting what prosecutors say was a $13,000 bribe in 2014 from the former ownership of Great Lakes Peterbilt, a truck sales firm in Portage.
Prosecutors say Snyder steered $1.125 million in city contracts to Great Lakes in return for that bribe.
Those jurors also found Snyder guilty of a separate government charge that he obstructed the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to collect business payroll taxes and personal income taxes Snyder owed.
Seven months later, Cortina and Snyder have yet to be sentenced because Snyder’s defense team has asked the judge to overturn his guilty verdicts.
They have filed voluminous objections and legal briefs with the court that has prompted the judge to put off a conclusion to the case.
Snyder’s defense attorneys most recently asked the judge to delay Snyder’s sentencing, which had been set for Tuesday.
And government prosecutors asked the judge last week to put off Cortina's sentencing until after Snyder’s sentencing.
The judge recently agreed to reschedule Snyder’s sentencing on two dates in December.
The judge will hold a hearing Dec. 6 to give both the defense and prosecution the opportunity to present evidence and additional argument on how to calculate a sentence.
The judge will then hold another hearing Dec. 17 to issue his rulings and announce Snyder’s sentence.
The defense has asked the judge to order the former mayor’s acquittal or grant him a new trial.
The defense argues there was insufficient evidence to support the guilty verdicts. They argue federal prosecutors misled jurors, with a large volume of irrelevant circumstances, into inappropriate speculation in arriving at Snyder’s guilt.
The defense also argues that prosecutors misstated the law to the jury and silenced witnesses who might have cleared Snyder with threats of prosecuting the witnesses along with Snyder.
Federal prosecutors retort the evidence of Snyder’s guilt was overwhelming and they did nothing improper against Snyder.
Ex-northwestern Indiana mayor fighting federal convictions
The Republic
September 21, 2019
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — A former northwestern Indiana mayor is continuing to fight the bribery and tax obstruction convictions that forced him from office earlier this year.
A federal judge has set a December court hearing for arguments on claims by Republican former Portage Mayor James Snyder that his convictions should be overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct and insufficient evidence. The judge will later decide whether to acquit Snyder, grant him a new trial or announce his sentence.
Jurors convicted Snyder in February 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.
Snyder won mayoral elections in 2011 and 2015. He has maintained his innocence.
Sentencing for man indicted along with former Portage mayor moved to early 2020
Chicago Tribune
September 20, 2019
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.
Snyder sentencing pushed back to December
NWI Times
September 17, 2019
HAMMOND — A federal judge is delaying for another three months a decision on whether to exonerate former Portage Mayor James E. Snyder or sentence him to prison.
A federal jury convicted Snyder of two felony counts of bribery and tax evasion Feb. 14 following a 19-day trial.
Snyder’s sentencing has been postponed for the second time because Snyder’s legal team argues the verdicts should be overturned on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct and insufficient evidence to support any conviction.
Federal prosecutors have responded the evidence of Snyder’s guilt was overwhelming and nothing in their conduct of the case warrants a new trial or his acquittal.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen issued an order saying he will give the prosecution and defense until Dec. 6 to make their final arguments and then he will rule Dec. 17 on whether to acquit Snyder, grant him a new trial or “announce the defendant's sentence.”
Voters first elected Snyder, a Republican businessman, in 2011 as mayor of Portage, the third largest city in Northwest Indiana .
Federal authorities say they began investigating hints of public corruption three years later. A federal grand jury indicted Snyder in 2016, during his second four-year term in office.
Snyder pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial which commenced early this year.
Federal prosecutors presented evidence and argued Snyder accepted a $13,000 bribe in 2014 in return for steering a $1.125 million public works contract.
They said Snyder actively sought to award those contracts to Great Lakes Peterbilt, a truck sales firm in Portage, by rigging the specifications for garbage trucks the city was buying to give Great Lakes an unfair advantage.
Prosecutors said Great Lakes gave Snyder $13,000 within weeks of Great Lakes winning the contracts. It came as a check made out to SRC Consulting, which prosecutors said was a nonexistent company. They said the money eventually found its way to Snyder’s personal bank account.
The government also argued and presented evidence Snyder obstructed the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to collect unpaid business and personal taxes he owed by hiding his taxable income.
Sentencing for former Portage mayor convicted of bribery, obstructing IRS moved to December
Chicago Tribune
September 16, 2019
Sentencing for former Portage Mayor James Snyder, who was found guilty of bribery and obstructing the IRS, has been rescheduled to two days in December.
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.
Snyder has agreed to forfeit $13,000 to the federal government.
“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 previously. “The journey is still ongoing. We have two more counts to deal with.”
Snyder declined to comment Monday on his sentencing being pushed to December. His attorney, Jackie Bennett Jr., did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The sentencing date had been pushed back from the original May 24 date to Sept. 24 “to allow time to rule on the pending post-trial motions,” according to court records.
“Mr. Snyder and his counsel need to decide whether to present evidence --- additional documentation, live witness testimony, etc. -- in support of Mr. Snyder’s sentencing position. Counsel cannot prepare such a presentation, or determine whether such a presentation would be necessary (or the scope of such a presentation) while motions remain pending," according to court records.
Snyder’s sentencing will take place over two days, according to a Sept. 13 court order signed by Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen.
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 the 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.
Both parties have submitted “voluminous briefs” regarding a motion by Snyder’s attorney for acquittal or a new trial, and “just recently” the probation department filed the pre-sentence report that “contains numerous objections that need to be sorted out by the court,” according to the court order.
“For the benefit of everyone involved and to be able to give adequate attention to the issues before it, the court grants defendant’s unopposed motion to continue the sentencing hearing,” according to the court order.
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.
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 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 in a similar towing scheme. Buncich was found guilty and began serving a 15-year 8-month sentence in January 2018.
Cortina, 80, 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 trail 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.
Convicted of bribery, obstruction, former Portage mayor asks to delay sentencing
Chicago Tribune
September 04, 2019
A former Portage mayor is making another request to delay sentencing after a jury convicted him in February of bribery and obstructing the IRS.
James E. Snyder’s sentencing date was originally set for May 24, but was set back four months, to Sept. 24, to give Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen of the U.S. District Court in Hammond time to review motions made by the defense after he was convicted.
The same logic is being applied again, according to court documents from Indianapolis-based defense attorney, Jackie Bennett.
“The routine procedure...is to allow time to resolve post-trial motions" before going through with sentencing, the document states.
Prosecuting attorney Jill Koster, an assistant U.S. attorney in Hammond, seemed to agree, acknowledging “the Defendant (Snyder) cannot be sentenced until the pending post-trial motions are ruled upon,” according to a Wednesday release. It is ultimately up to the court, however, to fulfill Snyder’s request.
The post-trial motions in question are various attempts on behalf of Snyder’s lawyers to get a new trial or an acquittal of his convictions. The defense has argued that evidence presented in court was “circumstantial,” and that such evidence only infers but does not prove Snyder’s guilt.
Snyder’s attorneys have also argued that the convictions should be thrown out because two men who could have given a fuller telling of events did not testify.
Prosecutors say that when Snyder, 38, 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.
In his 19-day February trial, Snyder was convicted of taking a $13,000 bribe in exchange for contracts to sell five garbage trucks to the city. Defense attorneys said the money was payment for Snyder’s consulting services to Great Lakes Peterbilt regarding heath care and information technology. But testimony from witnesses said the consulting was about phones, payroll or tax attorneys.
Along with the timing of the payment and the absence of any contract for it, the different explanations for such “consulting” indicated Snyder’s guilt, according to one juror who was interviewed after the case ended.
Snyder was also convicted on a charge of obstructing the IRS, after he used a shell company called SRC to hide income and assets from the IRS at the same time as he owed personal and business back taxes.
Taken together, the convictions could put Snyder in prison for up to 13 years, a number that might have been larger if Snyder were not acquitted of the third charge against him in February.
That charge related to bribery in a towing scheme, alleging Snyder took $12,000 to get a company on Portage’s tow list. A man indicted alongside Snyder, John Cortina, 79, pleaded guilty to paying bribes to Snyder in that instance, but jurors agreed with defense attorneys’ arguments that Snyder considered the money to be a loan.
Cortina is expected to be sentenced in October.
Judge delays public corruption sentencing for former Portage mayor
Chicago Tribune
April 30, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-post-trial-response-st-0501-story.html
The sentencing for the convicted former Portage mayor is being pushed three months as a federal judge weighs requests for acquittal or a new trial.
Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen on Monday pushed James Snyder’s May 24 sentencing to Sept. 24 “to allow time for the court to rule on the pending post-trial motions.” Since the end of Synder’s five-week trial, the defense has sought to show holes in the case that they say either warrant the judge throwing out the two guilty convictions or ordering a new trial, but prosecutors have said there was sufficient evidence to uphold the verdicts.
In February, a federal jury convicted Snyder of bribery and obstructing the IRS, bringing an end to his 19-day trial. Snyder 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 owning back personal and business taxes.
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.
Once those contracts were awarded, Great Lakes Peterbilt paid Snyder $13,000.
Snyder claimed he did consulting work for the dealership, justifying the $13,000 payment.
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.
The defense argued that by not calling two men who paid Snyder $13,000, the jury did not get to hear a full telling of the events, according to court documents.
“The government could have presented evidence on that question by calling the Buhas, the only two people in the world (other than Mr. Snyder) who knew the answer,” Snyder’s attorney, Jackie Bennett, said, in court filings. “The government preferred the void to the truth, hoping the jury would speculate its way to a verdict.”
Snyder’s attorneys have said that the two former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt could have testified but the prosecutors did not grant them immunity because they thought the two brothers would not testify truthfully.
“The government failed to show that the Buhas would commit perjury,” Bennett said, in a motion.
Snyder was not obligated to report he payment from Great Lakes Peterbilt in 2014, according to the defense, as that would be reported in 2015, reflecting the prior year. The defense said that the government was aware of the payment at that point and Snyder had told agents he did consulting work.
“A reasonable jury could infer that Snyder’s inconsistent claims about the type of the supposed consulting work he performed for GLPB demonstrated the corrupt nature of the arrangement,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster, in court filings.
Koster said the evidence showed that Snyder lied about the payment; lied about performing consulting work; and lied about his role in the awarding of the garbage truck bids.
“By proving Snyder’s lies, the government established his consciousness of guilt regarding his acceptance of the payment and his role in ensuring GLPB won the lucrative contracts,” Koster said.
The defense has aimed to show that the government’s case left a void for the jury.
“The government presented no communications that could plausibly be characterized as incrimination. Nor did it provide any witness testimony going to the intent of the central players in the case,” Bennett said in court filings. “Indeed, the government presented almost no relevant witness testimony at all. The government preferred to allow the jury to fill the voids in its evidence with speculation.”
On the tax charge, the defense has said that Snyder knew of his tax debt, wanted to settle it and made payments on both the personal and business tax liabilities.
Bennett said the government sought to show that Snyder misstated his income, but trial testimony showed that was false and the IRS never looked what a Portage mayor makes in annual salary.
“At trial, the government established that Snyder’s conduct consisted of a complicated, multi-year scheme in which he submitted numerous false documents, under oath, in an attempt to convince the IRS that he could not pay his business or personal income taxes, and, when that failed, that the IRS should forego collection efforts and allow him to make low-installment payments toward the amount he owed,” Koster said.
A jury found Snyder not guilty of allegedly soliciting a bribe to award two firms a city towing contract.
Chicago Tribune
April 30, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-post-trial-response-st-0501-story.html
The sentencing for the convicted former Portage mayor is being pushed three months as a federal judge weighs requests for acquittal or a new trial.
Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen on Monday pushed James Snyder’s May 24 sentencing to Sept. 24 “to allow time for the court to rule on the pending post-trial motions.” Since the end of Synder’s five-week trial, the defense has sought to show holes in the case that they say either warrant the judge throwing out the two guilty convictions or ordering a new trial, but prosecutors have said there was sufficient evidence to uphold the verdicts.
In February, a federal jury convicted Snyder of bribery and obstructing the IRS, bringing an end to his 19-day trial. Snyder 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 owning back personal and business taxes.
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.
Once those contracts were awarded, Great Lakes Peterbilt paid Snyder $13,000.
Snyder claimed he did consulting work for the dealership, justifying the $13,000 payment.
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.
The defense argued that by not calling two men who paid Snyder $13,000, the jury did not get to hear a full telling of the events, according to court documents.
“The government could have presented evidence on that question by calling the Buhas, the only two people in the world (other than Mr. Snyder) who knew the answer,” Snyder’s attorney, Jackie Bennett, said, in court filings. “The government preferred the void to the truth, hoping the jury would speculate its way to a verdict.”
Snyder’s attorneys have said that the two former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt could have testified but the prosecutors did not grant them immunity because they thought the two brothers would not testify truthfully.
“The government failed to show that the Buhas would commit perjury,” Bennett said, in a motion.
Snyder was not obligated to report he payment from Great Lakes Peterbilt in 2014, according to the defense, as that would be reported in 2015, reflecting the prior year. The defense said that the government was aware of the payment at that point and Snyder had told agents he did consulting work.
“A reasonable jury could infer that Snyder’s inconsistent claims about the type of the supposed consulting work he performed for GLPB demonstrated the corrupt nature of the arrangement,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster, in court filings.
Koster said the evidence showed that Snyder lied about the payment; lied about performing consulting work; and lied about his role in the awarding of the garbage truck bids.
“By proving Snyder’s lies, the government established his consciousness of guilt regarding his acceptance of the payment and his role in ensuring GLPB won the lucrative contracts,” Koster said.
The defense has aimed to show that the government’s case left a void for the jury.
“The government presented no communications that could plausibly be characterized as incrimination. Nor did it provide any witness testimony going to the intent of the central players in the case,” Bennett said in court filings. “Indeed, the government presented almost no relevant witness testimony at all. The government preferred to allow the jury to fill the voids in its evidence with speculation.”
On the tax charge, the defense has said that Snyder knew of his tax debt, wanted to settle it and made payments on both the personal and business tax liabilities.
Bennett said the government sought to show that Snyder misstated his income, but trial testimony showed that was false and the IRS never looked what a Portage mayor makes in annual salary.
“At trial, the government established that Snyder’s conduct consisted of a complicated, multi-year scheme in which he submitted numerous false documents, under oath, in an attempt to convince the IRS that he could not pay his business or personal income taxes, and, when that failed, that the IRS should forego collection efforts and allow him to make low-installment payments toward the amount he owed,” Koster said.
A jury found Snyder not guilty of allegedly soliciting a bribe to award two firms a city towing contract.
NWI Times
April 30, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-convicted-former-portage-mayor-s-sentencing-postponed-until-september/article_61b2e3d0-16ed-5dfe-a6a2-b96e70a19121.html
HAMMOND — The sentencing for convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder has been moved back to September. Sentencing for Snyder's former co-defendant, John Cortina, also has been pushed back to October.
A notice posted in U.S. Federal Court states Snyder's sentencing on public corruption convictions has been moved to 11 a.m. Sept. 24 "to allow time for the court to rule on pending post-trial motions."
Snyder's sentencing had been slated for May 24.
Sentencing for Cortina, Snyder's former co-defendant, has been re-set for 2 p.m. Oct. 1. Cortina's sentencing was initially scheduled for April 22, then pushed to June 7 to follow Snyder's sentencing. Cortina pleaded guilty to providing Snyder a bribe in a pay-for-tow allegation.
Snyder was convicted of two charges Feb. 14 following a 19-day trial. He was convicted on one court of bribery for accepting $13,000 from the former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt in Portage in exchange for steering more than $1 million in contracts for garbage trucks toward the company.
He also was found guilty of one count of federal tax obstruction. The two counts carry a total of up to 13 years in prison. Snyder was acquitted on one count of bribery in an alleged pay-for-tow scheme.
His attorneys filed a motion for acquittal prior to the end of the trial and have filed a second motion asking that if U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen does not set aside the jury's verdict and acquit Snyder, he be granted a new trial.
Snyder contends there was prosecutorial misconduct involving threats to witnesses. He also claims prosecutors didn't have enough evidence in some instances and expected jurors to fill in the gaps with speculation, and several legal errors were made because prosecutors were wrong about state, municipal, corporate and insurance law.
The postponing of Snyder's sentencing also may affect that of his brother, Jon Snyder.
Jon Snyder's sentencing also was recently pushed back to June 4 from April at the request of both his attorney and federal prosecutors to move his sentence to shortly after his brother's. Jon Snyder, Porter County assessor, testified as a government witness during his brother's trial in exchange for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor federal tax charge in an unrelated case.
Convicted former mayor contends prosecutors' improper conducted scared witnesses
NWI Times
April 22, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/convicted-former-mayor-contends-prosecutors-improper-conducted-scared-witnesses/article_cbc73cfa-56ec-5ac7-9141-ccc9c2b912a0.html2019
HAMMOND — Convicted Portage mayor James Snyder is claiming prosecutors played games with two potential witnesses, scaring them from taking the witness stand on his behalf.
In the latest filing in U.S. District Court over the weekend, Snyder's defense team contends Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster's statement "The government does not believe that they have been truthful," regarding Steve and Bob Buha's grand jury testimony was enough to scare them off from testifying at trial.
The brothers owned Great Lakes Peterbilt. Snyder was convicted of taking a $13,000 bribe from the brothers in exchange for steering more than $1 million in garbage truck bids to them.
"When a friend tells you that you are untruthful, you blush. If a spouse says it, you prepare an apology. But when a federal prosecutor says, 'I believe your story is untruthful,' it has an inescapable import. That statement is no different than saying, 'If you repeat the story I heard you say before, you are committing a felony punishable by up to five years in prison'," reads Snyder's latest reply to the government's response in his motions for the judge to either set aside the jury's verdict and acquit him or grant him a new trial.
Koster's statement, Snyder's defense team wrote, caused the Buhas to take the Fifth Amendment. Had the brothers testified, they contend, they would have told the truth.
"The reasons that did not happen lie entirely with the government. Mr. Snyder did everything he could have to get the Buhas into the trial. The government could have easily made it happen. It did not happen because the government wanted it that way," reads the document.
Snyder was convicted Feb. 14 after a 19-day trial. In addition to the bribery charge, he was found guilty on federal tax obstruction. He was acquitted on a pay for tow bribery charge. His sentencing is set for May 24.
In addition, the document contends prosecutors didn't have enough evidence in some instances and expected jurors to fill in the gaps with speculation. It also contends several legal errors were made because prosecutors were wrong about state municipal, corporate and insurance law.
Mayor sought bribes to fund Christmas presents, pay tax debt, prosecutors allege
NWI Times
April 15, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mayor-sought-bribes-to-fund-christmas-presents-pay-tax-debt/article_1cb77f5b-8ece-5c7a-8b99-f95b3b1b4cd6.html
HAMMOND — Convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder solicited a bribe from local truck company owners to pay for his family's Christmas and his tax debt, recently filed court documents allege.
Federal prosecutors filed the allegation in response to Snyder's request for a new trial.
Snyder was removed from office in February after a Hammond federal jury found him guilty of felony bribery and tax charges.
Prosecutors noted they based the recent filing on the grand jury testimony by former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, Steve and Bob Buha.
"The Buhas painted themselves as victims of a shakedown by Snyder — one they claimed to be unconnected to their company’s receipt of over $1.125 million in contracts from Portage just days earlier," the filing states.
"According to the Buhas, sometime after they were awarded the second round contract (Dec. 23, 2013) and approximately a week before they wrote the $13,000 check to Snyder (Jan. 10, 2014), Snyder showed up unannounced at GLPB and told them he needed $15,000 to pay for his family’s Christmas and tax debt he owed the IRS. And although he said he would work for the money, he needed it up front," prosecutors wrote in the filing.
Snyder, who was convicted Feb. 14 of taking $13,000 from the Buhas in exchange for steering contracts to them, has filed motions asking the courts to set aside the jury's verdict or have a new trial.
Snyder also was convicted of tax obstruction for filing false documents and lying to the IRS in an effort to avoid paying personal and business taxes.
He was acquitted of a second bribery charge regarding an alleged tow-for-pay scheme.
Snyder is scheduled to be sentenced May 24 and faces up to 13 years in prison.
Snyder's former co-conspirator, towing company owner John Cortina, who pleaded guilty in the tow-for-pay scheme, is scheduled to be sentenced June 7.
Snyder's brother, Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder, who testified against James Snyder in the 19-day trial, pleaded guilty in federal court on an unrelated tax charge. Jon Snyder's sentencing is slated for June 4.
James Snyder requested a new trial contending prosecutors acted inappropriately, especially in the charge involving the Buhas. He contended prosecutors prevented the Buhas from testifying on Snyder's behalf.
Prosecutors refute those allegations in the recent court filing.
Feds say convicted ex-Portage mayor's claims about lack of evidence is a 'red herring'
Chicago Tribune
April 12, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-prosecutor-response-st-0413-story.html
Prosecutors say that the conviction of a former Portage mayor should stand, and arguments to justify acquittal are a “red herring.”
Federal prosecutors on Friday filed a 48-page response to James Snyder’s post-trial motions that sought to have Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen acquit to former mayor or order a new trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said despite Snyder’s claim, prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to convict the former mayor.
Koster pushed back against claims that prosecutors only presented circumstantial evidence against Snyder.
“Snyder takes aim at the government’s reliance upon circumstantial evidence to prove that he acted with corrupt intent,” Koster said, in court filings. “This is a red herring.”
During Snyder’s five-week trial, the defense asked the judge to acquit the former mayor and filed a supplemental motion.
In February, a federal jury convicted Snyder of bribery and obstructing the IRS, bringing an end to his 19-day trial. Snyder 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 owning back personal and business taxes.
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.
Once those contracts were awarded, Great Lakes Peterbilt paid Snyder $13,000.
Snyder claimed he did consulting work for the dealership, justifying the $13,000 payment. Koster refuted that claim showing that Snyder changed his story about the nature of the consulting work, could not provide any proof of work performed, did not have the experience to do consulting work.
“A reasonable jury could infer that Snyder’s inconsistent claims about the type of the supposed consulting work he performed for (Great Lakes Peterbilt) demonstrated the corrupt nature of the arrangement,” Koster said.
Koster said the evidence showed that Snyder lied about the payment; lied about performing consulting work; and lied about his role in the awarding of the garbage truck bids.
“By proving Snyder’s lies, the government established his consciousness of guilt regarding his acceptance of the payment and his role in ensuring (Great Lakes Peterbilt) won the lucrative contracts,” Koster said.
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.
“At trial, the government established that Snyder’s conduct consisted of a complicated, multi-year scheme in which he submitted numerous false documents, under oath, in an attempt to convince the IRS that he could not pay his business or personal income taxes, and, when that failed, that the IRS should forgo collection efforts and allow him to make low-installment payments toward the amount he owed,” Koster said.
A jury found Snyder not guilty of allegedly soliciting a bribe to award two firms a city towing contract.
Prosecutors: Convicted Portage mayor showed 'consciousness of guilt in telling lies
NWI Times
April 12, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/prosecutors-convicted-portage-mayor-showed-consciousness-of-guilt-in-telling/article_0df03c50-0ed7-5e88-96fd-7d771b163786.html
HAMMOND — Former Portage Mayor James Snyder's continuous lies to law enforcement and investigators are enough to prove his guilt, according to filings from federal prosecutors Friday.
According to a document filed in U.S. District Court, the government established his "consciousness of guilt" through that series of lies about him accepting a bribe from former Great Lakes Peterbilt owners.
Federal prosecutors filed a response to Snyder's motion asking U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to overturn the jury's Feb. 14 conviction, citing a lack of evidence in the case. It was one of two responses expected to be filed by prosecutors Friday.
Snyder, who was in his second term as mayor, was convicted Feb. 14 on one count of bribery involving bids for city garbage trucks as well as one count of federal tax obstruction. He was acquitted on a second bribery count alleging a pay-for-tow scheme. He was removed from elected office upon his conviction. He is facing a May 24 sentencing and could receive up to 13 years in prison.
Snyder's defense team filed a motion to reverse the jury's verdict prior to the end of the trial. In lieu of Van Bokkelen overturning the verdict, Snyder asked for a second trial, citing alleged errors and misconduct by federal prosecutors. The prosecutor's response to the motion for a second trial was also due Friday, but had not been filed as of 4:30 p.m. Friday.
In the government's 48-page response to the request for an acquittal, prosecutors outlined evidence they presented during the 19-day trial.
In regard to the garbage truck bribery count, prosecutors said they provided sufficient evidence to show Snyder steered the $1 million in garbage truck bids to Steve and Bob Buha, former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, in exchange for a $13,000 payment. Snyder alleged the money was for health care and IT consulting services.
Both the Buhas and Snyder "badly needed money," prosecutors said in documents.
"The evidence presented at trial showed Snyder’s figurative fingerprints all over the garbage truck bid process," prosecutors said. "Much of the evidence proved that Snyder lied repeatedly to law enforcement when confronted about the $13,000 payment."
Prosecutors also refuted Snyder's claims of insufficient evidence to convict him in the federal tax obstruction charge, saying prosecutors proved he had filed false documents in the scheme to avoid paying the IRS back payroll taxes for his business and personal income taxes.
"Three years of providing false information while withholding critical financial data and funneling money to the very company Snyder failed to disclose to the IRS, was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that Snyder 'acted corruptly, that is, with the purpose to obtain an unlawful benefit for himself or someone else'," prosecutors wrote.
Former Portage mayor says court ruling bolsters aquittal efforts
Chicago Tribune
April 11, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-supplemental-motion-st-0412-story.html
Attorneys for Portage’s convicted former mayor are saying a recent court ruling that threw out a conviction based on “opinion testimony” should support their motion for acquittal.
James Snyder’s attorneys are citing a recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision bolsters the former mayor’s case for Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to acquit him of bribery and obstruction the IRS convictions.
Snyder’s attorney referenced the appeals court’s ruling in the case of Andres Garcia, who was convicted of distributing cocaine, citing a lack of witness testimony that tied him to the alleged crime. The court said the case against Garcia instead “the government secured this verdict based upon a federal agent’s opinion testimony” that interpreted intercepted phone calls.
The 7th Circuit vacated Garcia’s conviction.
“The government presented no communications that could plausibly be characterized as incrimination. Nor did it provide any witness testimony going to the intent of the central players in the case,” Bennett said, in court filings. “Indeed, the government presented almost no relevant witness testimony at all. The government preferred to allow the jury to fill the voids in its evidence with speculation.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is expected to file a response to Snyder’s post-trial motions April 12.
In February, a federal jury convicted Snyder of bribery and obstructing the IRS, bringing an end to his 19-day trial. Snyder 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 owning back personal and business taxes.
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.
Once those contracts were awarded, Great Lakes Peterbilt paid Snyder $13,000.
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.
A jury found Snyder not guilty of allegedly soliciting a bribe to award two firms a city towing contract.
The defense argued that by not calling two men who paid Snyder $13,000, for what Snyder said was consulting services, after a deal to sell Portage garbage trucks, the jury did not get to hear a full telling of the events, according to court documents.
Convicted Portage mayor continues plea for new trial
Kokomo Perspective
April 04, 2019
http://kokomoperspective.com/politics/indiana/convicted-portage-mayor-continues-plea-for-new-trial/article_c79c9220-86cf-57da-a03b-1363d65d7e23.html
HAMMOND — Convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder continues to plead his case for a new trial.
In a 12-page filing in U.S. District Court submitted late Wednesday, Snyder's defense team outlines reasons they believe there were errors and misconduct committed by federal prosecutors.
Snyder, who was in his second term as mayor, was convicted Feb. 14 on one count of bribery involving bids for city garbage trucks as well as one count of federal tax obstruction. He was acquitted on a second bribery count alleging a pay-for-tow scheme. He was removed from elected office upon his conviction.
He is scheduled to be sentenced May 24 but has filed motions asking that either the jury's verdict be overturned or he be granted a new trial. Federal prosecutors have until April 12 to answer Snyder's allegations.
In the newest filing, Snyder's defense team contends while "the government collected a colossal amount of information" during the investigation, less than 1% of the information had any relevance to the case. The amount of information, according to the defense team, forced them to focus on irrelevant matters.
They also contend much of the discovery was produced late, even into the middle of the trial, which hampered the defense's efforts to fully review the materials.
Snyder also contends the trial's length itself caused an inherent unfairness. Citing another court opinion which says trials lasting 20 days tend to confuse jurors and favor the prosecution, Snyder's attorneys assert prosecutors dragged on the trial using more witnesses than necessary. The filing compares Snyder's trial to that of former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, saying the former sheriff was charged with 10 bribery counts instead of two, included a co-defendant and had more audio and video recordings, but the proceedings concluded in 14 days. Snyder's trial lasted 19 days.
The filing also contends prosecutors acted improperly by alleging a project on Willowcreek Road was involved in one of the bribery counts, but waited until the trial's end to strike the allegation; that the trial was unfair because a prosecutor inappropriately told jurors Snyder's former co-defendant John Cortina had pleaded the Fifth Amendment; that evidence was improperly introduced in one of the bribery charges; and that prosecutors misrepresented its proposed set of jury instructions to lead the defense team astray.
"Any one of the above errors or those mentioned in docket entries 262 and 263, standing alone, is sufficiently prejudicial to warrant a new trial. But even if these individual errors, in isolation, do not rise to the level of prejudice, the cumulative effect of the multiple errors unfairly prejudiced Mr. Snyder, and a new trial should be ordered," the filing concludes.
Convicted ex-Portage mayor continues push for new trial
Chicago Tribune
April 04, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-motion-new-trial-st-0405-story.html
Convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder is again appealing to a federal judge to order a new trial if two guilty verdicts should stand.
Snyder’s defense attorneys filed a motion Wednesday asking that if Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen doesn’t acquit the former mayor of bribery and obstructing the IRS, he should order a new trial. Snyder’s attorneys cited perceived errors, including discovery issues, length of the trial and alleged prosecutorial misconduct, that warrant a new trial.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said of all the discovery materials prosecutors provided, only 1 percent of that was relevant to the case, but caused the defense “to search through a titanic amount of information to prepare his defense.”
“Now that the 1 percent of documents relevant to the case has been made clear, the interests of justice would be served by requiring a new trial in which the parties can focus on those documents,” Bennett said.
Bennett accused Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson of misconduct for commenting to the jury that a potential witness had invoked their 5th Amendment right not to testify. Bennett said “that comment – made after the evidence had closed – was completely inappropriate.”
In February, a federal jury convicted Snyder of bribery and obstructing the IRS, bringing an end to his 19-day trial. Snyder 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 owning back personal and business taxes.
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.
Once those contracts were awarded, Great Lakes Peterbilt paid Snyder $13,000.
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.
A jury found Snyder not guilty of allegedly soliciting a bribe to award two firms a city towing contract.
Van Bokkelen in March gave federal prosecutors an additional two weeks to respond to the former mayor’s motion for acquittal and request for a new trial, over the objection of Snyder’s defense.
Snyder’s defense attorneys filed a request for a new trial and made a renewed push for a judge to acquit the former mayor of bribery and obstructing the IRS. The defense argued that by not calling two men who paid Snyder $13,000 for what Snyder said was consulting services, after a deal to sell Portage garbage trucks, the jury did not get to hear a full telling of the events, according to court documents.
UPDATE: Judge in former mayor's public corruption case grants extra time despite objections
NWI Times
March 28, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-judge-in-former-mayor-s-public-corruption-case-grants/article_8aabbcba-3597-5d8e-bfad-f353f350c163.html
HAMMOND — Prosecutors in former Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption case will get an additional two weeks to file a brief defending his verdict despite objections from Snyder.
Assistant U.S. attorneys prosecuting Snyder, who was convicted Feb. 14 on one count of bribery and one count of tax obstruction, had until March 29 to file their response to Snyder's s for acquittal or allow a second trial.
Late Wednesday, prosecutors asked for an extension. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted the extension Thursday afternoon.
Snyder, in a response to the request, objected, saying federal prosecutors are continuing to drag their feet in his case.
"Mr. Snyder hangs in limbo as a consequence of what we believe to be an unjust verdict," Jackie Bennett, Snyder's attorney, wrote in the document.
Prosecutors don't say in their motion why they wanted the extension. Snyder is scheduled to be sentenced May 24.
Snyder's team filed a motion to acquit on Feb. 8, a week before the jury found him guilty on two of three charges following 19 days of testimony. On Feb. 28 the defense team filed a motion for a new trial and a supplement to the motion to acquit.
Snyder contends the jury's verdict should be set aside or, at the very least, a new trial should be granted for several reasons including insufficient evidence being presented and an accusation of prosecutorial misconduct by threatening witnesses, which led to them taking the Fifth Amendment and no testifying on Snyder's behalf.
The most recent document filed by Bennett contends Snyder's team filed his post-trial motions two weeks early to give prosecutors additional time. In addition, the defense states "government counsel has been chronically unable to meet the court-ordered deadlines."
"If the Court grants the Rule 29 motion, Mr. Snyder can walk as a free man without the stigma of an adverse jury verdict or looming conviction hanging over his head. The government’s request to keep Mr. Snyder hanging in limbo for an additional two weeks, not to mention the amount of time it takes us to potentially file a reply, should be denied," Snyder's request reads.
Defense for convicted ex-Portage mayor objects as judge gives prosecutors more time on question of acquittal or new trial
Chicago Tribune
March 28, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-response-extension-st-0329-story.html
A bid by a convicted former mayor to deny a two-week delay prosecutors sought to respond to a request for a new trial or to throw out two guilty verdicts was turned back by a federal judge Thursday.
James Snyder’s defense attorneys on Wednesday told Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen that he should deny a request to delay a filing deadline, saying it’s another example of prosecutors being “chronically unable to meet the court-ordered deadlines” and leaves the former mayor “in limbo.”
On Thursday, Van Bokkelen gave prosecutors the two-week extension they sought.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said he thinks the pending motions have merit and if they are granted, “Mr. Snyder can walk as a free man without the stigma of an adverse jury verdict or looming conviction hanging over his head.”
“The government’s request to keep Mr. Snyder hanging in limbo for an additional two weeks, not to mention the amount of time it takes us to potentially file a reply, should be denied,” Bennett said, in court documents.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked for an additional two weeks on Wednesday to file a response to Snyder’s motion for acquittal and for a new trial. Koster’s filing did not specify a reason for the two-week extension.
In February, a federal jury convicted Snyder of bribery and obstructing the IRS, bringing an end to his 19-day trial. Snyder 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 owning back personal and business taxes.
A jury found Snyder not guilty of allegedly soliciting a bribe to award two firms a city towing contract.
Snyder’s defense attorneys filed a request for a new trial and made a renewed push for a judge to acquit the former mayor of bribery and obstructing the IRS. The defense argued that by not calling two men who paid Snyder $13,000, for what Snyder said was consulting services, after a deal to sell Portage garbage trucks, the jury did not get to hear a full telling of the events, according to court documents.
“The government went to great lengths to provide only circumstantial evidence, even where it had direct evidence available to it,” said defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr., in court filings. “As a result, the jury was asked to speculate as to Mr. Snyder’s guilt. A guilty verdict could stem only from the jury piling inference on inference.”
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.
Once those contracts were awarded, Great Lakes Peterbilt paid Snyder $13,000.
Snyder’s defense also questioned the evidence in the obstructing the IRS case.
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.
UPDATE: Sentencing for former Portage mayor's co-defendant in bribery scheme reset for June 7
NWI Times
March 26, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/sentencing-for-former-portage-mayor-s-co-defendant-in-bribery/article_2a2c72c4-2dd5-58f4-9177-6c305880e38e.html
HAMMOND — The fate of John Cortina, the former co-defendant of convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder, won't be known until June 7.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a request filed by federal prosecutors on Tuesday to continue Cortina's sentencing until after that of Snyder's.
Cortina, 79, owner of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, pleaded guilty in January to paying Snyder a $12,000 bribe to put himself and his partner, Scott Jurgenson, of Sampson Towing, on the city's tow list. Cortina's sentencing had been set for April 22.
The jury, which heard testimony for 19 days in the public corruption case, acquitted Snyder on the tow for pay charge.
Jurgenson has worked as an undercover informant for the FBI during an investigation of Snyder and other alleged Region pay for tow schemes.
The court filing asked the sentencing hearing be pushed back until "shortly after" Snyder is sentenced on May 24. Cortina's attorney agreed to the request, according to the document.
Snyder was found guilty on two charges on Feb. 14. He was found guilty on a second bribery charge involving receiving a $13,000 bribe for awarding contracts on city garbage trucks and on a federal tax obstruction charge. He could face up to 13 years in prison on those charges.
In other motions awaiting rulings, Snyder has asked for the jury verdict to be set aside and that he be acquitted on the two charges or that a new trial be ordered.
Ex-Portage mayor convicted of bribery seeks new trial, claiming insufficient evidence and prosecutorial misconduct
Chicago Tribune
March 01, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-acquittal-motion-st-0302-story.html
Portage’s convicted former mayor wants a federal judge to throw out two convictions and order a new trial, citing prosecutorial misconduct and insufficient evidence.
Defense attorneys for James Snyder on Thursday filed a request for a new trial and made a renewed push for a judge to acquit the former mayor of bribery and obstructing the IRS. The defense argued that by not calling two men who paid Snyder $13,000, for what Snyder said was consulting services, after a deal to sell Portage garbage trucks, the jury did not get to hear a full telling of the events, according to court documents.
“The government went to great lengths to provide only circumstantial evidence, even where it had direct evidence available to it,” said defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr., in court filings. “As a result, the jury was asked to speculate as to Mr. Snyder’s guilt. A guilty verdict could stem only from the jury piling inference on inference.”
On Feb. 14, a federal jury convicted Snyder of bribery and obstructing the IRS, bringing an end to his 19-day trial. Snyder 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 owning back personal and business taxes.
During the trial, prosecutors did not call the two men who then owned Great Lakes Peterbilt, Bennett said, and the absence of that evidence made the case “insufficient.”
“Beyond not calling the Buhas (Robert and Steve Buha, former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt), (Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster) revoked their immunity and coerced them into silence, unsubtly hinting that she would attempt to prosecute them for perjury if they repeated their grand jury testimony at Mr. Snyder’s trial,” Bennett said.
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 the Buhas.
Once those contracts were awarded, Great Lakes Peterbilt paid Snyder $13,000.
Bennett said the Buha brothers could have testified about the work Snyder did for their business. Once the trial start, Bennett said that had revoked the brothers’ immunity, and they intended to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights to avoid incriminating themselves.
Snyder’s defense also questioned the evidence in the obstructing the IRS case.
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.
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.
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.
Cortina, 79, who was indicted alongside the former 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.
Convicted Portage mayor claims prosecutors threatened witnesses; requests new trial
NWI Times
March 01, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/convicted-portage-mayor-claims-prosecutors-threatened-witnesses-requests-new-trial/article_c40b2dee-4d9e-52de-9245-7e1a7b069f6e.html
HAMMOND — Convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder is seeking a new trial, saying prosecutors threatened key witnesses in his case.
In documents filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court, Snyder's attorneys contend Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster committed prosecutorial misconduct by threatening Steve and Bob Buha, causing them to take the Fifth Amendment and not testify on Snyder's behalf.
Snyder, who was in his second term as Portage's mayor, was convicted Feb. 14 on felony counts of bribery involving taking a $13,000 bribe from the Buhas and their former business, Great Lakes Peterbilt, in exchange for awarding them $1.25 million in garbage truck bids and obstructing the IRS in their efforts to collect back personal income and business payroll taxes.
Snyder was acquitted of a third charge, which alleged he accepted a $12,000 bribe from former co-defendant John Cortina in exchange for putting Cortina and his partner on the city's tow list. Cortina pleaded guilty to paying the bribe and will be sentenced April 22.
As part of the court proceedings, Snyder's defense team filed a motion to acquit immediately after testimony in the 19-day trial ended. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen has not yet ruled on that motion.
In a 60-page supplemental motion for the acquittal filed Thursday, Snyder's attorneys claim "AUSA Koster committed prosecutorial misconduct and violated Mr. Snyder's due process rights by discontinuing the Buhas' immunity and coercing the Buhas into silence, which excluded testimony and evidence exonerating Mr. Snyder."
According to a sworn statement from the Buhas' attorney, Thomas Mullins, the brothers were given immunity for their testimony in front of the grand jury in January 2016.
Near the beginning of the trial, Koster allegedly told Snyder's attorneys she believed the Buhas had lied, but did not provide evidence of the lies, Mullins said. That "put me and my clients in a bind" and was taken as a threat. Mullins said he then told his clients to invoke the Fifth Amendment. Bob Buha did so when called to the stand by Snyder's team. Steve Buha was not called to testify.
In addition, the supplemental motion claims the tax obstruction case presented by prosecutors "has fatal legal and factual flaws."
In a second filing Thursday, Snyder asked that if Van Bokkelen does not rule in his favor on the acquittal, that an alternative remedy would be a new trial on the two counts for which he was convicted.
Snyder claims grounds for the new trial include the exclusion of the Buhas' testimony on his behalf. It also claims the majority of the evidence in that bribery charge came through testimony from FBI agent Eric Field rather than an eyewitness.
The motion also claims the judge erred in his denial of the defense's request for providing the missing-witness jury instruction to jurors prior to their going into deliberations.
As to the tax obstruction charge, Snyder's attorneys claim evidence presented was insufficient and doesn't support the guilty verdict.
Convicted mayor's father pleads for mercy: 'He has done nothing wrong'
NWI Times
February 22. 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/convicted-mayor-s-father-pleads-for-mercy-he-has-done/article_25b52ad1-a2d8-5fc0-9d50-aa9b0a02de3b.html
HAMMOND — The father of convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder is asking the court to "have mercy on him."
In a letter filed with U.S. District Court Thursday, Bruce Snyder, writes to U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen, telling him his son is a "good man."
James Snyder was convicted Feb. 14 on felony counts of bribery and tax obstruction following a 19-day trial in federal court. The two-term mayor was acquitted on a second count of bribery. He is awaiting sentencing on May 24
"On behalf of his mother, his wife and four wonderful children, I ask that you have mercy on him. His life is in near ruins and he has already learned any lessons to be learned. He is not, nor will he ever be, a detriment to society," Bruce Snyder writes to the judge.
"James is a good man. He's a loving father of four and has a wonderful wife. I believe with all my heart, in spite of the verdict, that he has done nothing wrong. I was at the trial every day and I believe the prosecution did not prove him to be guilty of anything," Snyder wrote.
In the letter Snyder said he and his wife, Sandi, did their best to raise their children in a "good Christian home" and to make them contributors to society.
"We taught them to work hard and be honest. Until this episode evidence pointed to the fact that we were successful in doing just that," Snyder wrote.
Bruce Snyder writes of his oldest son who served in the military and is the general manager at a large corporation and of James Snyder's youngest sister, who teaches in high school and college.
He does not mention his other son, Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder, who worked as an undercover informant for the FBI during the investigation into James Snyder and others. Jon Snyder wore a wire for the FBI, secretly taping conversations with his brother, former co-defendant John Cortina and others.
Jon Snyder pleaded guilty to misdemeanor federal tax charges and is scheduled to be sentenced April 30.
Cortina pleaded guilty to paying James Snyder a $12,000 bribe in a pay for towing scheme and is scheduled to be sentenced April 22. James Snyder was acquitted on that count.
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