02052020 - News Article - Lawyers for former Portage mayor request delay in retrial

Lawyers for former Portage mayor request delay in retrial
Chicago Tribune
February 05, 2020
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-snyder-retrial-update-st-0206-20200205-cpao6l5iozge3jr3f3l2kgf4ue-story.html

Lawyers for Former Portage Mayor James Snyder have requested that his upcoming retrial of one count against him be pushed back one month.

In a joint motion with prosecutors filed Monday, Snyder’s attorneys requested to continue his March 23 trial date to April 27 “to ensure that Mr. Snyder’s counsel will be available to try the case."

Snyder’s attorneys argue that “granting the requested continuance outweigh the interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial," according to the joint motion. If the court doesn’t approve the continuance it “might result in a miscarriage of justice” and “would deny counsel reasonable time for effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence," according to the request.

Snyder, who was indicted in November 2016, 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 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, 41, has agreed to forfeit $13,000 to the federal government, documents show.

In February 2019, Snyder filed a motion for a new trial and acquittal on the two counts because of “alleged prosecutorial misconduct” related to the soliciting bribes count and “the Government failed to present sufficient evidence from which a rational jury could find the defendant guilty” regarding corruptly interfering with the administration of IRS laws, according to the order.

In November, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen denied Snyder’s motion for acquittal to both charges, according to the court order. Van Bokkelen denied a motion for a new trial for the corruptly interfering with the IRS charge, but he granted the motion for a new trial on soliciting bribes charge, according to the order.

In December, after Chief Judge Theresa L. Springmann was assigned to the case, Snyder filed motions to dismiss the two counts and a motion to “strike, or in the alternative, an extension of time to seek reconsideration,” on Van Bokkelen’s ruling on the soliciting bribes count, according to the court order.

Springmann issued an order Jan. 21 denying the motions, among other motions that still required rulings in the case.

In January, a jury trial had been set to start March 23 and could last about two weeks, according to court records. Jayna Cacioppo, one of Snyder’s attorneys, confirmed the trial will focus on the soliciting bribes count and that the obstruction charge stands because he was convicted by the jury.

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.

Federal prosecutors said Snyder allegedly solicited money from co-defendant John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.

Cortina, 80, in January 2019 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 tria.

Cortina was sentenced Jan. 22 to time served and a $12,000 fine.