12312019 - News Article - Prosecutors say Portage tow operator tied to former Mayor James Snyder’s public corruption conviction should serve home detention

Prosecutors say Portage tow operator tied to former Mayor James Snyder’s public corruption conviction should serve home detention
Chicago Tribune
December 31, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-portage-cortina-sentencing-st-0101-20191231-wcwpddrnjra5zktcdbggtvredq-story.html

Federal prosecutors are recommending John Cortina, the towing operator who pleaded guilty to a bribery charge over a towing contract with former Portage Mayor James Snyder, serve probation and eight months on home detention for his role in the scheme, according to court documents.

The sentencing recommendation, filed Dec. 26 in U.S. District Court in Hammond, is a downward departure from sentencing guidelines for the crime because of Cortina’s acceptance of responsibility and cooperation with authorities.

In November 2016, Cortina, 80, and Snyder were indicted on bribery charges related to a $12,000 payment Cortina told authorities he and “Individual A” made to Snyder to get on the city’s towing list.

Cortina, according to court documents, pleaded guilty to one of the three charges against him in January 2019, for paying a bribe to a public official. Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, agreed to cooperate with the U. S. Attorney’s Office in exchange for the plea agreement.

Cortina, according to court documents, gave Snyder two cashier checks at the former mayor’s direction, one payable to “Citizens for Snyder” for $10,000, and another for $2,000 made out to “Round Table for Snyder” to secure a spot on the city’s list of towing companies. Snyder’s defense attorneys have argued that the funds, which Cortina gave to Snyder in January 2016, were a campaign loan.

The sentencing memorandum, filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson, notes that Cortina agreed to testify if called as a witness at Snyder’s trial but because the government was able to introduce other evidence, it wasn’t necessary to call Cortina as a witness.

“Although not needed at trial, the proffer information provided by Cortina was useful in determining how specific writing on the cashier’s checks came to be present and that in fact, the $12,000 total payment was a bribe,” the document notes.

Evidence presented at trial included a recorded conversation between Cortina and Snyder in which Cortina said, “Christmas is here” and “I got Christmas” before Cortina gave Snyder the cashier checks.

The sentencing range for the charge against Cortina would be 18 to 24 months but the government is requesting a downward departure to a sentence of eight to 14 months. In the sentencing memorandum, the government recommends a sentence of probation with a condition of that probation being that Cortina serve eight months of home detention.

Cortina is scheduled to be sentenced sometime in January.

Snyder was found guilty in February on charges of bribery, involving the purchase of garbage trucks, and defrauding the IRS. A jury acquitted him of the charge involving Cortina.

A federal judge has granted a new trial on the bribery charge involving the garbage trucks. Prosecutors have until later in January to decide how to proceed.