01222020 - News Article - Man indicted along with former Portage mayor in bribery scheme sentenced to time served, $12,000 fine

Man indicted along with former Portage mayor in bribery scheme sentenced to time served, $12,000 fine
Chicago Tribune·
January 22, 2020
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-cortina-sentencing-st-0123-20200122-vwxjvo3aq5cctfhrhyueb62chy-story.html

John Cortina, who was indicated alongside former Portage Mayor James Snyder in a bribery scheme in 2016, was sentenced Wednesday to time served and a fine.

Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen sentenced Cortina, 80, to one-day time served, a $12,000 fine and an additional $100 special assessment fine in Hammond’s federal court.

Before the sentencing, Cortina’s attorney, Kevin Milner, and the prosecutors agreed to a form of probation and home detention.

Prosecutors had recommended probation and eight months of home detention. Milner argued that the length of house arrest should be less based on Cortina’s “age and lifestyle."

Milner also stated that Cortina’s business is located near his home, and argued that home detention should be adjusted so he can continue working. Prosecutors agreed that home detention could include Cortina’s business.

Ultimately, Van Bokkelen decided on a sentence that excluded home detention. During the sentencing, Cortina addressed the judge politely with “yes, sir” or “no, sir," but he otherwise did not address the judge.

Van Bokkelen said he was pleased the case was over for him and Cortina, and referenced other aspects of the case still “going on.”

“I couldn’t think of a case that has as much wrong with it as this one,” Van Bokkelen said.

Cortina, 80, in January 2019 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.

In February 2019, 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, a Republican, of a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.

Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statute and obstructing or impeding the IRS.

One of the counts against Snyder said 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.

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.