Retrial in ex-Portage Mayor James Snyder’s case set for March 8 as judge denies motion to dismiss soliciting bribes charge
Post-Tribune
Feb 03, 2021
The retrial date for former Portage Mayor James Snyder, facing a soliciting bribes charge, has been set for March 8 after a judge denied a motion to dismiss the charge.
In the motion to dismiss, Snyder argued that his retrial is outside the 70-day window under the Speedy Trial Act and that it would violate his constitutional right to a speedy trial, according to court records.
A jury convicted Snyder of taking a $13,000 bribe in exchange for contracts to sell five garage trucks to the city and using a shell company to hide income assets from the IRS while owning 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.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge. Since then, “several motions, continuances and the COVID-19 pandemic have all contributed to delays in the retrial,” according to court documents.
U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, is the third judge assigned to the case following Van Bokkelen and U.S. District Court Chief Judge Theresa Springmann.
Kennelly wrote from Nov. 27, 2019, to Nov. 16, 2020, the date on which the district’s chief judge entered the most recent order regarding the pandemic, a number of motions have been filed in the case.
Snyder’s attorneys argue that at least 77 non-excluded days have passed since a new trial was granted and prosecutors argue that 62 non-excluded days have passed, according to court documents.
Prosecutors argue that the two motions to withdraw and the two motions to continue were pending and are “automatically excluded.” Snyder’s attorneys agree that pretrial motions are excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, but state the motions to withdraw are “merely ministerial” and therefore should not be excluded under the act, according to court records.
Kennelly concluded that the Speedy Trial Act “undercuts” Snyder’s attorneys’ argument because it states that delays resulting from any pretrial motion are excluded.
Snyder’s attorneys also argued that Van Bokkelen’s 45-day continuance and Springmann’s 30-day extension in the case should be excluded.
Kennelly rejected the arguments “for several reasons,” including the fact that Snyder “affirmatively agreed” to both continuances and to the exclusion of time under the act.
“He cannot take that back now,” Kennelly said.
From Nov. 28, 2019, to Nov. 15, 2020, Kennelly calculated that 63 days passed since the order granting a new trial, which means that Snyder’s rights under the Speedy Trial Act “have not been violated,” according to court documents.
While Snyder’s attorneys argue that “the proper way” to count the delay is from the date of his indictment, November 2016, to the present. But, given the trial held in January and February 2019 and a new trial was granted after that, “it would defy logic and common sense” to count from the indictment “and pretend the earlier trial never happened,” according to court documents.
Kennelly wrote that “nearly all of the delay ... has been the result of a global pandemic.”
“That delay cannot rationally be attributed to the prosecution and cannot be viewed as anything other than completely justifiable,” Kennelly wrote. “The two delays Snyder presses — resulting from consideration of his motions related to the government’s seizure of his email and his post-trial motions — are arguably attributed to him, not the government.”
Kennelly denied the motion to dismiss, and set a trial for March 8. Prosecutors anticipate a trial of up to seven days and Snyder’s attorneys anticipate a trial of up to four days, according to court record.
Jury selection will be held in shifts at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., and a pretrial conference will be held March 4.
UPDATE: Former Portage Mayor Snyder to be retried on federal bribery charge
NWI Times
Feb 03, 2021
HAMMOND — Former Portage Mayor James Snyder will be retried March 8 on accusations of soliciting a $13,000 bribe from the owners of a Portage trucking firm after helping it receive $1.125 million in contracts for garbage trucks in 2013, a federal judge said Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois, who has been assigned to the local case, confirmed the retrial following an attempt by the defense to dismiss the charge based on accusations that Snyder's right to a speedy trial had been violated.
In rejecting Snyder's motion to dismiss, the judge says as part of his ruling, "Put simply, Snyder is asking 'to sandbag the government by insisting that the time be counted against the speedy trial clock' even though he 'explicitly agree(d) to the government's request that time be excluded.'"
Snyder's legal team argued that his retrial would fall beyond the 70-day window period of the Speedy Trial Act, but Kennelly disagreed.
"In sum, only 63 non-excluded days have passed since the order granting a new trial," the judge ruled. "Snyder's rights under the Speedy Trial Act have not been violated."
Federal prosecutors said during a telephone hearing Wednesday that they expected the trial to last five to seven days, while the defense said it would need three to four days.
Snyder acknowledged he was on the morning call but remained quiet for the remainder of the hearing as the judge and attorneys discussed the details of the trial and safety precautions that will be taken in light of the ongoing COVID-91 pandemic. The judge told Snyder he was to attend a March 4 pretrial conference at the federal building in Hammond.
Snyder, a Republican, was indicted in late 2016 and was found guilty in early 2019 of the bribery charge and federal tax violations. He is awaiting sentencing on the tax violations.
The bribery verdict was overturned in late 2019, and a former judge in the case decided Snyder must face a new jury on the bribery charge, overruling defense arguments that a second trial was barred by the constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
The trial had been scheduled to begin Dec. 7, but it was postponed due to concerns over threats posed by the worsening COVID-19 pandemic.
Kennelly has voiced the same concerns, but said he has successfully held jury trials during the pandemic by social distancing participants across several courtrooms.
He said Wednesday that the plan is to use the large courtroom at the federal courthouse in Hammond and set it up to allow social distancing of attorneys and jurors. He expects to call in 70 potential jurors in two shifts of 35 each to allow safe distancing during selection.
The judge also told the defense team that it may have to limit the number of attorneys at the table with Snyder during the trial to allow social distancing.
Kennelly said he is prepared, if necessary, to delay the trial by a day or so if a late season snowstorm hits.
"It's Indiana and it's March, stuff happens," he said.
Former Portage Mayor James Snyder’s retrial set to start Monday
Post-Tribune
March 05, 2021
The retrial for former Portage Mayor James Snyder, facing a soliciting bribes charge, begins Monday with jury selection. The trial will begin Tuesday and is schedule to last through March 18.
The public won’t be able to attend jury selection, as is typically handled, because the potential jurors spread out throughout the courtroom, said Jay Schrader, a case manager with the Northern District of Indiana U.S. District Court. Throughout the trial, the public can watch the trial via live stream in the jury assembly room because of COVID-19 precautions, he said.
A jury convicted Snyder, 42, 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 owning back personal and business taxes in 2019. The jury acquitted Snyder for a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge. Since then, “several motions, continuances and the COVID-19 pandemic have all contributed to delays in the retrial,” according to court documents.
U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, is the third judge assigned to the case following Van Bokkelen and U.S. District Court Chief Judge Theresa Springmann. Most recently, prosecutors and Snyder’s attorneys argued whether Snyder’s right to a speedy trial have been violated because of delays in a final attempt by Snyder’s attorneys to dismiss the charge. Snyder was originally indicted in November 2016.
Snyder’s attorneys said that pretrial motions are excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, but state the motions to withdraw are “merely ministerial” and therefore should not be excluded under the act, according to court records. Snyder’s attorneys also argued that Van Bokkelen’s 45-day continuance and Springmann’s 30-day extension in the case should be excluded.
Prosecutors argue that two motions to withdraw and the two motions to continue the retrial were pending and are “automatically excluded.”
Snyder’s attorneys argue that “the proper way” to count the delay is from the date of the 2016 indictment to the present. But, given the trial held in January and February 2019 and a new trial was granted after that, “it would defy logic and common sense” to count from the indictment “and pretend the earlier trial never happened,” according to court documents.
Kennelly wrote that “nearly all of the delay ... has been the result of a global pandemic.”
“That delay cannot rationally be attributed to the prosecution and cannot be viewed as anything other than completely justifiable,” Kennelly wrote. “The two delays Snyder presses — resulting from consideration of his motions related to the government’s seizure of his email and his post-trial motions — are arguably attributed to him, not the government.”
Kennelly denied the motion to dismiss, and set a trial for March 8. Prosecutors anticipate a trial of up to seven days and Snyder’s attorneys anticipate a trial of up to four days, according to court records.
Jury selection set in ex-NW Indiana mayor's bribery retrial
NWI Times
Mar 6, 2021
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — Jury selection is set to begin Monday in a former northwestern Indiana mayor's long-delayed retrial on a federal charge alleging that he solicited a bribe from two businessmen.
A federal jury had convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder in February 2019 of bribery and federal tax violations, but the bribery verdict was later overturned.
Another judge ruled in November 2019 that Snyder deserved a new trial because he was denied the chance of calling brothers Bob and Steve Buha to testify that they didn’t bribe Snyder.
The former mayor's retrial has been delayed repeatedly because of the coronavirus pandemic, but jury selection is set to start Monday, followed by the trial.
Federal prosecutors anticipate a trial of up to seven days, while Snyder’s attorneys expect a trial of up to four days, the Post-Tribune of Merrillville reported, citing court records.
Once the trial begins in Hammond, the public will be able to watch the trial via live stream in the jury assembly room because of COVID-19 precautions, said Jay Schrader, a case manager with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
Prosecutors allege that Snyder, 42, corruptly steered $1.125 million in contracts for the city of Portage to buy garbage trucks from a Portage trucking company in 2013, when the Buha brothers were its owners.
The government alleges Snyder solicited and received a $13,000 bribe from the brothers a few weeks later.
Snyder pleaded not guilty to the charge. His legal team argues the $13,000 was a legitimate payment for consulting services Snyder provided the trucking dealership to save money on the cost of insurance and information technology.
Jury selection set in long-delayed ex-Portage mayor's bribery retrial
ABC 7 Chicago
March 6, 2021
HAMMOND, Ind. -- Jury selection is set to begin Monday in a former northwestern Indiana mayor's long-delayed retrial on a federal charge alleging that he solicited a bribe from two businessmen.
A federal jury had convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder in February 2019 of bribery and federal tax violations, but the bribery verdict was later overturned.
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Another judge ruled in November 2019 that Snyder deserved a new trial because he was denied the chance of calling brothers Bob and Steve Buha to testify that they didn't bribe Snyder.
The former mayor's retrial has been delayed repeatedly because of the coronavirus pandemic, but jury selection is set to start Monday, followed by the trial.
Federal prosecutors anticipate a trial of up to seven days, while Snyder's attorneys expect a trial of up to four days, the Post-Tribune of Merrillville reported, citing court records.
Once the trial begins in Hammond, the public will be able to watch the trial via live stream in the jury assembly room because of COVID-19 precautions, said Jay Schrader, a case manager with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
Prosecutors allege that Snyder, 42, corruptly steered $1.125 million in contracts for the city of Portage to buy garbage trucks from a Portage trucking company in 2013, when the Buha brothers were its owners.
The government alleges Snyder solicited and received a $13,000 bribe from the brothers a few weeks later.
Snyder pleaded not guilty to the charge. His legal team argues the $13,000 was a legitimate payment for consulting services Snyder provided the trucking dealership to save money on the cost of insurance and information technology.
Former Portage mayor's bribery trial begins
NWI Times
Mar 08, 2021
HAMMOND — Former Portage Mayor James E. Snyder faced a new jury Monday on federal bribery charges.
Attorneys for Snyder and federal prosecutors spent much of Monday choosing jurors to hear evidence and legal arguments on whether the former mayor solicited and accepted a bribe, as the government alleges.
Attorneys for the prosecution and defense are scheduled to give opening statements in the case Tuesday, followed by the opening of testimony in a trial expected to last one or two weeks.
Judge Matthew F. Kennelly, who has served in the U.S. District for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago since 1999, is presiding over the trial.
Federal prosecutors first charged Snyder in November 2016 with bribery and tax evasion.
Snyder is pleading not guilty to allegations he solicited money from the former owners of a Portage trucking sale firm after steering a city contract to the dealership for the purchase of trucks for garbage collection.
The government alleges Snyder received a $13,000 bribe from Steve and Bob Buha, the former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt within weeks of the garbage truck purchase.
Snyder’s attorneys argue the $13,000 was a legitimate payment for consulting services Snyder provided the dealership to save them money on insurance and information technology.
Snyder’s first trial, in early 2019, resulted in a guilty verdict on the garbage truck purchase.
However, the judge who presided over that trial later ruled that irregularities in prosecutors’ conduct were unfair to Snyder because the Buhas refused to testify on grounds they might be charged by federal prosecutors, depending on their testimony.
A federal prosecutor complained during the 2019 trial the brothers gave inconsistent, untruthful stories about their motives for giving Snyder the $13,000.
Snyder’s lawyers argued the Buhas’ testimony would have cleared Snyder of any wrongdoing, but the brothers were improperly intimidated into silence by the prosecution.
The case also has been put on hold to iron out legal disputes between the parties and during the pandemic, until a trial could be safely held.
Bribery retrial for former Portage mayor begins with focus on bidding process for garbage trucks
Chicago Tribune
March 9, 2021
Attorneys presented their opening statements Tuesday in the retrial of former Portage Mayor James Snyder on a soliciting bribes charge painting very different pictures of how he received $13,000.
Prosecutors argued that former Snyder violated his oath as mayor when he became personally involved in the bidding process for garbage trucks and accepted a bribe. Snyder’s attorneys argued that Snyder was delivering on a campaign promise to automate the garbage collection process and worked for the $13,000.
A jury convicted Snyder, 42, of taking a $13,000 bribe in exchange for contracts to sell five garbage trucks to the city and using a shell company to hid income assets from the IRS while owing back personal and business taxes in February 2019. The jury acquitted Snyder for a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokklelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge. The retrial will be heard by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, who is the third judge to review the case.
Wearing a suit and tie, Snyder walked up to the U.S. Northern District Courthouse in Hammond by himself, face mask in hand, and put it on before heading into the building. In the courtroom, he sat next to his two attorneys, with the prosecutors spaced out and the judge behind a clear plastic partition.
Nine people who came to view the hearing, watched it from the jury assembly room. At about 9:50 a.m., the jury entered the courtroom and sat in the gallery benches spread out and wearing masks.
U.S. Assistant State’s Attorney Ankur Srivastava, said Snyder steered two garbage truck contracts to Great Lakes Peterbilt for $1 million and that two weeks later he accepted $13,000 from the owners of the company, Robert Buha and Steve Buha, who are brothers. The Buha brothers no longer own the company.
Typically, Srivastava said, a city puts out a bid to companies for big purchases, like garbage trucks. The superintendent or head of a department is in charge of the bidding process and works with department employees to create a list of requirements, so that companies know what city officials need.
In Portage, when the bids come in, they are in sealed envelopes and returned to the clerk-treasurer’s office, Srivastava said. During a public meeting of the Board of Works — of which Snyder was president — the bids are opened, and the lowest bidder is usually approved, he said.
But, for the garbage truck bids, “Snyder corrupted that process to help Great Lakes Peterbilt,” Srivastava said.
Snyder involved himself in the bid process and “pushed out” the superintendent who would’ve handled the bid, Srivastava said. The bid requirements were set up so that only Great Lakes Peterbilt could fit the requirements, like needing the trucks in 150 days, which is a “short window” in the trucking industry, he said.
The bids were delivered to Snyder’s office, not to the clerk-treasurer’s office, which is “unusual,” Srivastava said. Additionally, Snyder did not tell the Board of Works when he knew that an older truck would be purchased against the bid requirements, he said.
Snyder also had “regular and frequent” contact with the Buha brothers during the bidding process, Srivastava said.
Ultimately, Srivastava said, Great Lakes Peterbilt was awarded two contracts to purchase a total of five garbage trucks for $1.25 million. Two weeks after the second contract was awarded, Snyder accepted $13,000 from the Buha brothers, he said.
The $13,000 was put into an account for SRC Consulting, which investigators found was a fake company, Srivastava said. Snyder previously had companies called SRC Marketing and SRC Properties, he said.
Snyder told investigators that he had “nothing whatsoever” to do with the bid process and that the $13,000 he accepted was for consulting work he did for the Buha brothers, Srivastava said.
But, when asked, Snyder couldn’t produce memos or contracts or work he did to show he did consulting work for the Buha brothers, Srivastava said.
“The evidence will show that as the mayor of Portage and president of the board of works he steered contract to Great Lakes Peterbilt,” Srivastava said. Adding, that the “only verdict consistent with the facts” is guilty.
Jackie Bennett, Snyder’s attorney, said the allegation against Snyder “is absolutely, positively and unequivocally false.” He called the prosecution’s case a “conspiracy theory” and that “all the evidence is circumstantial, not direct.”
When Snyder ran for office, Bennett said, his big campaign push was to improve trash collection in the city by making it automated, which would help save the city money in medical and workers’ compensation claims. When Snyder took office, the city was still using trucks that required two workers to lift the cans and dump the garage into the back of a garbage truck, which led to injuries, he said.
Snyder “did not take it upon himself” to get involved in the bidding process, and he had others work on it, Bennett said. Snyder did not write up the bid requirements and he “didn’t care who got the bids,” Bennett said.
“Lots and lots of people were delegated the task of purchasing those trucks,” Bennett said.
It is true that Portage sought trucks with a specific engine type that Great Lakes Peterbilt used in their trucks, Bennett said, but it isn’t illegal for cities to “seek specific bids.” In the first bid, Bennett said, 18 companies responded and “most” couldn’t meet the 150-day requirement so Great Lakes Peterbilt was selected as the “best bid.”
During the second bid, Bennett said the two-year-old garbage truck was “virtually indistinguishable” from the newer garbage trucks and that there was “nothing improper” about “narrowly targeting” the bid requirements to purchase the older truck.
“A couple weeks” after the second bid, Snyder went to the Buha brothers “to see what he can do” because his mortgage company went under, which meant his income went from $100,000 to $50,000, and he had four children to support, Bennett said.
Snyder agreed to do consulting for the Buha brothers, and requested they pay him $13,000 upfront for the work because he was financially strapped, Bennett said. Snyder was supposed to write up a contract but “got busy and didn’t get to it,” Bennett said.
“He was supposed to write up a contract — shame on him — but he did the work,” Bennett said, adding that SRC Consulting wasn’t listed as a company with the state because it is a sole proprietorship, which doesn’t require state filings.
Bennett requested the jury “keep an open mind” and “listen to the evidence” and then find Snyder not guilty.
Prosecution, defense paint two different pictures of ex-Portage mayor in opening statements of trial
NWI Times
Mar 09, 2021
HAMMOND — A jury Tuesday began to learn whether James Snyder was a corrupt mayor or the victim of a conspiracy theory.
Some 15 men and women heard these conflicting opinions on the first day of testimony in Snyder’s bribery trial.
“James Snyder is innocent,” said defense attorney Jackie M Bennett Jr.
“James Snyder violated the public trust. He accepted a bribe,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ankur Srivastava maintained.
Snyder is pleading not guilty to a federal charge he solicited $13,000 from Steve and Bob Buha, the former owners of Portage-based Great Lakes Peterbilt.
The government alleges Snyder demanded the money within two weeks of completion of Portage’s purchase of five garbage trucks worth $1.125 million from the brothers’ business.
There is no dispute Snyder received that payment, but the jury must weigh the motives and actions of those involved in the truck purchase contracts and the money Snyder received.
Bennett said voters elected Snyder, a Republican businessman, in 2011 as mayor of Portage, the third largest city in Northwest Indiana.
Modern trucks needed
He said Snyder decided the city could save money from outdated rear-loaded garbage truck collections to modern automated ones to reduce the injuries and time off city employees suffered riding on the outside of trucks and lifting heavy trash cans to shoulder height.
Srivastava said Snyder turned to his friends, the Buha brothers, who regularly contributed political cash to him.
The prosecution alleges Snyder pushed out city officials who would have ensured a fair and honest bidding practice and “hand picked” Randy Reeder to do it, despite Reeder’s inexperience. Reeder was an assistant in Snyder's administration.
Srivastava said the bidding specifications for the trucks the city would accept were rigged to steer the contracts to Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Although it can sometimes take up to a year for a garbage truck to be assembled and delivered to a customer, Srivastava said the mayor’s officials imposed a 150-day deadline on vendors despite the lack of an emergency.
He said Portage even accepted a 2-year-old, unsold truck, rather than a new one. He said that helped the the Buhas unload an unwanted truck chassis that had been sitting in their inventory for many months.
Srivastava asked, “Why did (Snyder) take the money? Why did he camouflage (the payment)? Why did he lie about it to FBI agents?
Bennett replied, “Snyder wasn’t involved in the bidding process. All he did was come up with the idea of automated trash collections."
He said his denials of wrongdoing to the FBI were genuine, he had nothing to do with writing up the specifications and he performed honest work for the Buhas as a consultant.
He said Snyder was permitted under law to work as a mayor and a consultant and Snyder was in financial difficulty after his mortgage finance business failed.
“He had four children to feed,” Bennett said.
Former Portage mayor’s finances, phone records discussed during second day of bribery retrial
Chicago Tribune
March 10, 2021
Former Portage mayor James Snyder’s finances and phone records were discussed Wednesday by an Internal Revenue Service agent during the second day of his retrial on a soliciting bribes charge.
A jury convicted Snyder, 42, 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 in February 2019. The jury acquitted Snyder on a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
Snyder was granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge in November 2019. His retrial is being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, who is the third judge to review the case.
Prosecutors argued Tuesday that Snyder steered two garbage truck contracts to Great Lakes Peterbilt for $1 million and that two weeks later he accepted $13,000 from the owners of the company, Robert Buha and Steve Buha, who are brothers. The Buha brothers are no longer with the company.
From Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon, Gerard Hatagan, an IRS agent who investigated Snyder, testified about Snyder’s finances and communication with the Buha brothers and city staff throughout bidding processes.
As of August 2013, Hatagan said, Snyder owed $84,156.55 in payroll taxes for his mortgage company. Investigators also found that as of February 2014, Snyder owed more than $55,000 to the IRS in income tax and trust fund recovery penalties.
As of February 2014, Snyder owed $39,523.89 in trust fund recovery penalties and the rest was in income tax going as far back as 2006, Hatagan said.
Campaign contributions were also brought up, particularly $7,000 contributed between the Buha brothers and Great Lakes Peterbilt to Snyder’s 2013 campaign. Defense attorney Jackie Bennett argued that other garbage truck bidders also contributed that year and that it isn’t illegal to do so.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster showed Hatagan Snyder’s 2013 campaign contributions, and found that other bidders contributed four times to Snyder’s 2013 campaign giving: $675, $150, $150 and $900.
When asked, Hatagan stated that the Buhas gave the most money to the campaign and, also in 2013, were awarded bids for the garbage truck bids.
Emails were also reviewed Wednesday, which showed communication between Randy Reeder, the city’s assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation, and a salesman with Great Lakes Peterbilt, one of which showed that the salesman sent over Great Lakes Peterbilt bid recommendations 10 months before the bidding process started.
On April 5, 2013, Reeder emailed Snyder stating that Great Lakes Peterbilt revised the price of the two-year old garbage truck sitting in the lot.
In an email with the subject “how to buy a fourth garbage truck,” sent July 22, 2013, Reeder asked the city attorney if the city has to go to bid. The attorney listed the rules for how bids work and stated that anything over $150,000 in value needs to go through the formal bidding process.
Reeder forwarded the email to Snyder, who responded within a minute asking how much the truck costs, Hatagan said. Reeder stated between $180,000 and $200,000, he said.
“Ask Great Lakes if they can get it under $150,000 so you don’t have to do the formal bidding process,” Snyder typed back, minutes later, Hatagan read.
On Aug. 26, 2013, the attorney emailed Reeder and Snyder stating that a purchase can be made if the city receives a good price and it’s in the interest of the city, but the board of works — of which the mayor is president and appoints the members — has to approve the purchase, Hatagan said.
There is no evidence to suggest the city used this option, Hatagan said when questioned by Snyder’s attorneys.
“If Mr. Snyder wanted to stronghold this process, he could’ve done it this way,” Bennett said.
Investigators also reviewed Snyder’s phone records, which showed calls and text messages, and found that Snyder and Reeder talked 15 times before the first bid for garbage trucks was published; 41 times before the bids were due; and 19 time before bids were awarded, Hatagan said.
Snyder communicated with the Buha brothers 12 times throughout the first bidding process, Hatagan said. During the second bidding process, Snyder communicated with the Buha brothers four times two weeks before the bid, 29 times before the bids were due and 18 times before the bids were awarded, Hatagan said.
The call log was created by the FBI by taking the phone records and scanning them into a database so that a spreadsheet was created, Hatagan said. The records only indicate calls made, not what was discussed, he said.
Testimony highlights irregularities in Portage bidding practices
NWI Times
Mar 10, 2021
HAMMOND — Jurors on Wednesday heard of irregularities that marked the city of Portage’s purchase of garbage trucks and prompted bribery charges against former mayor James E. Snyder.
Federal prosecutors called witnesses revealing Snyder’s unusual personal interest in the 2013 garbage truck bidding process.
They also tracked the $13,000 paid by the successful truck vendor to Snyder that prosecutors are calling a bribe.
The former mayor’s defense attorney told jurors there should be nothing suspicious about Snyder’s involvement in the $1.125 million truck contracts or the money he later pocketed.
Snyder is pleading not guilty.
A panel of 15 male and female jurors heard a second day of testimony Wednesday from Gerard Hatagan, an investigator for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, who summarized the government’s case against Snyder.
Hatagan detailed the political ties between Snyder and Steve and Bob Buha, the former owners of Portage-based Great Lakes Peterbilt, through records of thousands of dollars the brothers gave Snyder’s political organization.1
Hatagan conceded the campaign contributions were perfectly legal.
Snyder’s defense attorney, Jackie M. Bennett, noted other city vendors contributed to Snyder’s campaign, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill R. Koster noted the Buhas were Snyder’s largest contributor at the time of the city’s garbage truck contracts.
Hatagan painted a dire picture of the former mayor’s personal finances in the year of the garbage truck purchases.
He said Snyder owed the IRS thousands of dollars in personal and business taxes associated with the mayor’s failing mortgage finance business.
Hatagan said Snyder was struggling to make car payments and mortgage payments on a rental property he owned.
Snyder, who took office as Portage mayor a decade ago, set out in 2013 to modernize trash collection in the city with more automated trucks.
The city invited truck vendors to bid supplying the city with five more modern garbage trucks that year.
The defense argues Snyder only came up with the idea and left the implementation to his city advisers.
Hatagan testified records the government subpoenaed in their investigation spoke of a constant stream of communications between Snyder and the Buhas as bidding unfolded that year.
Prosecutors showed the jury evidence a Great Lakes Peterbilt salesman provided Portage with information on trucks they were prepared to sell, months before an official notice of the bidding was made public.
Bennett argued businesses routinely and legitimately sell products and services to municipalities.
Portage city records indicated bidding documents from Great Lakes Peterbilt were sent directly to the mayor’s office, not the clerk-treasurer, the city’s official record keeper.
Less than a month after the Buhas successfully won the bidding process for five trucks, they wrote Snyder a $13,000 check.
Snyder contends that money was the legitimate upfront payment of his consulting services he provided the Buhas on their business’ insurance coverage and information technology.
Bennett also scoffed at the idea that Snyder would take a bribe in the form of a $13,000 check, since cash would be harder to trace.
Hatagan said there was no evidence Snyder took any cash bribes, but noted the truck firm needed to write a check to claim the $13,000 as a business expense and tax deduction.
Hatagan said the Buhas’ check was made out to SRC Consulting, a Snyder business entity he hadn’t registered with the state. Prosecutors contend this was done to conceal the payment.
Portage workers questioned about garbage truck bid specifications as Snyder trial continues
Chicago Tribune
March 11, 2021
Attorneys worked to establish whether or not former Portage mayor James Snyder played an influencing role in the purchase of five garage trucks at the heart of his retrial on a soliciting bribes charge in Thursday testimony.
A jury convicted Snyder, 42, 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 in February 2019. The jury acquitted Snyder on a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
Snyder was granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge in November 2019. His retrial is being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, who is the third judge to review the case.
The prosecution called Portage Streets and Sanitation Department employees during the time including Steve Charnetzky, who was then department superintendent.
Charnetzky was asked what role he played as superintendent in creating the specifications for the bid package for the garbage trucks and in deciding what company would receive the contract.
Charnetzky testified he was specifically told by Snyder not to get involved with the purchase of the trucks because he would be working with Randy Reeder, who was then the assistant superintendent. Reeder currently is superintendent of the Portage Streets and Sanitation department.
“It concerned me,” Charnetzky testified.
He testified it was uncommon for the department superintendent to not be involved in the purchase of equipment. Charnetzky had served previously as superintendent for 16 years under a different administration. He said the typical procedure for such a purchase would be to form a committee including drivers, mechanics and administrators to determine needs and come up with specifications.
Snyder is accused of steering two garbage truck contracts for $1 million to Great Lakes Peterbilt, owned by Robert Buha and Steve Buha. Two weeks later he is accused of accepting $13,000 from Buha brothers. The pair no longer own the company.
On Tuesday, Gerard Hatagan, an IRS agent who investigated Snyder, testified about Snyder’s finances and communication with the Buha brothers and city staff throughout bidding processes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster peppered Charnetsky with questions asking if he was shown a draft of the specification or the invitation to bid, if his input was sought in the process and if, during his previous tenure as superintendent had a mayor even gotten so involved in a purchase to which he replied each time: “Never.”
John Beck, head mechanic for Portage at the time of the purchase, testified he was tapped by Snyder to create specifications for the truck purchase and was bewildered when he learned the specifications he created were not used. Beck said his specifications were for the truck that came in at the highest price point.
He disputed on cross examination by defense attorney Jackie Bennett that he ever supported a 150-week delivery timetable for the specifications instead of 180 weeks, a figure described by Charnetzky described as the typical minimum window for a purchase of this type of truck. Beck testified the specifications he provided, which favored a different truck, were not used, while Charnetzky testified he did not even know his head mechanic was tapped to create specifications.
Both Beck and Charnetzky separately testified there was no emergency or reason to include a tight time window in the specifications. All of the city’s five trucks at the time were working and there were no issues with having trash picked up in a timely manner.
“We were getting the job done,” Beck testified.
Defense challenges witness's credibility in Snyder bribery trial
NWI Times
Mar 11, 2021
HAMMOND — Prosecutors assailed former Portage Mayor James E. Snyder with testimony he steered $1.125 million in city contracts to a politically connected business.
Steve Charnetzky, a former Portage streets superintendent, told a federal court jury Thursday the mayor got personally involved in rigging the bidding process so Great Lakes Peterbilt of Portage could sell the city of Portage five garbage trucks.
Snyder’s defense attorney Jackie M. Bennett challenged Charnetzky’s credibility.
Bennett said Charnetzky, not the mayor, publicly announced in 2013 Great Lake Peterbilt won the contracts because theirs were the lowest and most responsive bids.
Charnetzky testified the mayor cut him out of the bidding process and his announcement only echoed what Snyder already had decided.
Snyder is pleading not guilty to a federal charge he solicited and accepted a $13,000 bribe from Great Lakes Peterbilt’s then owners, after the contracts were final.
Bennett previously told jurors it was Snyder’s idea, after first being elected mayor nine years ago, to modernize the city’s garbage truck fleet.
Snyder's role disputed
Bennett argues Snyder left the bidding process to others.
Charnetzky claims Snyder was involved from the beginning.
Charnetzky said he had worked for the Portage city streets department for three decades when Snyder appointed him streets department boss.
Charnetzky said he campaigned for Snyder’s election, but was quickly disappointed when he couldn’t name his own assistant streets superintendent.
Instead, Snyder named Randy Reeder. Charnetzky viewed Reeder as unqualified, but a friend of the mayor.
Charnetzky said the mayor also gave Reeder authority to draw up specifications for new garbage trucks to be purchased.
Charnetzky said there was no urgency for the city to buy more garbage trucks.
Bennett said it was time to buy because the newest truck in the city’s fleet was already 6 years old.
Charnetzky said the mayor complained the previous administration refused to buy trucks from Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Charnetzky testified, “... so I understood that to mean the next trucks sold would come from the Buhas.”
Steve and Bob Buha were owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt at the time and big contributors to Snyder’s election campaign.
“(The mayor) told me not to get involved. I had no input," Charnetzky said, adding that left him with “slightly hurt feelings.”
Bennett replied during cross-examination Reeder sent Charnetzky scores of emails about the specifications. “You weren’t cut out of the loop at all.”
Charnetzky said he was disturbed to learn Reeder would model garbage truck specifications on Peterbilt trucks.
Charnetzky said that was unfair since other vendors can’t copy Peterbilt’s design and that limits competition. “You want to make it as competitive as possible to get the lowest price,” he said.
Trucking firm exec testifies former Portage mayor was paid for work never done
NWI Times
Mar 12, 2021
HAMMOND — The office manager for a Portage trucking firm said he wrote a $13,000 check to former Portage Mayor James E. Snyder for services he never saw Snyder perform.
That was the testimony Friday afternoon of Brett Searle, former fiscal officer for Great Lakes Peterbilt, during the fifth day of Snyder’s federal bribery trial.
Snyder is pleading not guilty to a federal charge he solicited and accepted that money to corruptly influence the award of $1.125 million in city contracts to the politically connected business.
Searle told the 15 men and women on the U.S. District Court jury Friday Great Lakes Peterbilt was a failing business in 2013.
He said its revenues were so low and it was so deep debt, the owners, Steve and Bob Buha, dipped into their private savings for $450,000 at one point just to keep paying their 60 employees.
Nevertheless, Buhas and their business donated nearly $9,000 to Snyder’s election campaign and charities in the first two years of Snyder’s administration.
Federal prosecutors say those donations were legal, but the $13,000 payment was a bribe to steer $1.125 million in garbage truck sales to the Buhas.
Snyder’s defense attorney, Jackie M. Bennet,t told jurors earlier the money was a legitimate payment for consulting services Snyder provided the Buhas' business for employee insurance coverage and information technology.
Searle said he asked the Buhas to document Snyder’s consulting business and services to Great Lakes Peterbilt for his records.
But Searle testified he never saw a contract between the trucking firm and SRC Consulting, the business name Snyder gave himself.
Searle said he never saw any invoices recording the $13,000 payment. “Bob (Buha) said he would get that, but he never did,” Searle testified.
Searle added he never saw never saw any reports or memos Snyder generated in his consulting work or presentations Snyder gave Great Lakes Peterbilt employees about health insurance.
He told Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster he didn’t see so much as a business card to prove the existence of SRC Consulting.
Searle said he considered the donations and the consulting fee odd “without knowing details of what he was going to do.”
Grant Andres and Josh Pagel, two information technology consultants who worked with the City of Portage when Snyder was mayor, testified Snyder didn’t appear to be exceptionally knowledgeable about the subject.
Randall Evans, a former deputy commissioner for the state’s Department of Insurance, testified he never found any records showing Snyder was licensed as a insurance consultant.
Evans said he had no record of Snyder filing, with the state, a consulting agreement that spelled out the services justifying Snyder’s fee.
“Thirteen thousand dollars would certainly have raised a flag at the insurance department, he said.
The judge recessed the trial for the weekend. It will resume Monday.
Former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt receive immunity, set to testify in bribery retrial of former Portage mayor
Chicago Tribune
March 15, 2021
Former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt Stephen Buha and Robert Buha briefly attended the retrial of James Snyder, former Portage mayor long enough Monday to receive immunity.
Prosecutors and Snyder’s attorneys did not object to the motion granting the brothers immunity for the testimony they will provide at a later date in Snyder’s retrial on a soliciting bribes charge. The immunity states, in part, that the testimony either brother gives cannot be used in a case against them with a few exceptions, such as perjury, said U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois.
Kennelly, who is the third judge to review Snyder’s case, told the Buha brothers, Stephen, 73, of Crown Point, and Robert, 69, of Valparaiso, that the date of their testimony will be determined by the attorneys representing Snyder, prosecutors and their attorney. The brothers stated their names and agreed that they understood the immunity motion before leaving the courtroom.
A jury convicted Snyder, 42, 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 in February 2019. The jury acquitted Snyder for a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge.
In his retrial, prosecutors have stated that Snyder steered two garbage contracts to Great Lakes Peterbilt for $1 million and that two weeks later he accepted $13,000 from the Buha brothers. While Snyder told investigators he performed consulting work to receive the funds, prosecutors said, there is no record or contract of him performing the work.
On Monday, Brett Searle, former fiscal officer for Great Lakes Peterbilt, testified that after the rollout of the Affordable Care Act Robert Buha was “engaged intensively” in trying to understand how to comply with the new health insurance law.
In late 2013, Searle said Robert Buha stated he had met with Snyder to discuss health insurance for union and nonunion employees because Portage had union and nonunion employees. But, Searle testified that when he wrote out the $13,000 to Snyder’s SRC Consulting group he “didn’t know what the consulting was about.”
Searle said he learned after being subpoenaed he learned the check related to health care consulting.
When discussing the 2012 garbage truck that was sold during the second garbage truck bid, Searle testified that Great Lakes Peterbilt had already spent about $75,000 in curtailment payments as the truck sat in the lot. After the garbage truck was sold and all companies that contributed to building it were paid, Great Lakes Peterbilt profited $6,446, Searle said.
During cross examination, Searle said that after the 2012 garbage truck sat on the lot for two years it was becoming increasingly difficult to sell. If the garbage truck hadn’t been sold when it was, Searle said, the Buha brothers would’ve owed another $31,000 or so in payments.
“Every deal is a good deal,” Searle said.
Scott McIntyre, former general sales manager for Great Lakes Peterbilt, also began testifying Monday and stated that before the first bid he arranged for a presentation from Great Lakes Peterbilt and Portage officials about garbage trucks.
McIntyre pushed for the company to secure more municipal contracts, he said, because the trucks are kept locally for about 10 to 12 years, which means parts and services work is done by Great Lakes Peterbilt. McIntyre said that in the long run companies see a bigger profit from parts and services work on the garbage trucks compared to the sale of the truck.
McIntyre stated that he submitted the company’s first bid to the city. In the requirements for the first bid, McIntyre said that Great Lakes Peterbilt was the only company that could meet the 150-day delivery for the truck because of lower production of trucks at that time.
He also confirmed that he sent an email and a follow up email to Randy Reeder, Portage’s assistant street superintendent, in January 2013 with the detailed requirements of the 2012 truck months before the second round of bidding started, which is when the truck was ultimately sold.
Key figures granted immunity to testify in former Portage mayor's bribery trial
NWI Times
Mar 15, 2021
HAMMOND — A federal judge Monday cleared the way for testimony this time around from two key figures in the second, ongoing bribery trial of former Portage Mayor James Snyder.
Robert and Stephen Buha, who gave Snyder the $13,000 in question while they owned Great Lakes Peterbilt, will be able to testify without any fear of the information being used against them in a criminal case.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly granted the government's request for immunity without objection from the defense.
The immunity is good as long as the Buhas don't commit perjury, give false statements or fail otherwise to comply with the order, Kennelly said. It is unclear when the Buhas will be called to testify.
The ruling came as the second week gets underway in the Snyder trial.
The Buhas did not testify when Snyder was first tried on the charge two years ago. They opted to invoke their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and Snyder's legal defense team later claimed the Buhas were threatened by prosecutors.
The defense claimed prosecutorial misconduct and said Snyder's rights were violated "by discontinuing the Buhas' immunity and coercing the Buhas into silence, which excluded testimony and evidence exonerating Mr. Snyder."
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge he solicited and accepted the $13,000 in question to corruptly influence the purchase of $1.125 million in garbage trucks for the city in 2013 from the politically connected business.
Snyder, a Republican, was indicted in late 2016 and was found guilty in early 2019 of the bribery charge and federal tax violations. The bribery verdict was overturned in late 2019, and a former judge in the case decided Snyder must face a new jury on the bribery charge, overruling defense arguments that a second trial was barred by the constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
Snyder is awaiting sentencing on the tax violations.
Earlier in the day Monday, a former fiscal officer at Great Lakes Peterbilt testified that the purchase of the five trucks in question did little to help the financial challenges faced at the time by the company.
“I didn’t know the specifics of what the consultation was about,” Brett Searle said of the payment made to Snyder.
Before jurors were brought into the courtroom Monday morning, attorneys discussed claims that Snyder had accepted the money in return for providing health insurance advice to the trucking firm.
But Searle later agreed with prosecutors that a mayor like Snyder, who was not an attorney, would have more of an “inside track” on truck sales than on insurance advice.
Also testifying Monday was Scott McIntrye, who had worked as a general sales manager at Great Lakes at the time of the truck sales in question.
He said the company was trying to make inroads at the time into local municipalities, who tend to hold on to vehicles for long periods, which leads to more lucrative parts and services business.
City official says former Portage Mayor James Snyder told him to recant grand jury statements in bribery retrial case
Chicago Tribune
March 16, 2021
A Portage official was granted immunity before testifying in the retrial of former Mayor James Snyder, his former boss, who is facing a soliciting bribes charge.
Randy Reeder, who was assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation at the time of Snyder’s November 2016 indictment, told the jury Tuesday in Hammond’s federal court that Snyder told him to recant statements he made to the grand jury.
There were no objections to Reeder’s immunity, which states that any information he gives cannot be used in a case against him with some exceptions, like perjury. Reeder was granted immunity after his attorney attempted to plead the Fifth Amendment, which protects from self-incrimination, on Reeder’s behalf Monday afternoon.
Earlier Monday, former owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt brothers Stephen Buha and Robert Buha, were also granted immunity if they testify. It is not clear if the Buha brothers will be called in to testify.
A jury convicted Snyder, 42, 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 in February 2019. The jury acquitted Snyder for a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge. The retrial is being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, who is the third judge to review the case.
In February 2019, Reeder, who is now superintendent of the streets and sanitation department for the city, said he wanted to recant what he told a grand jury regarding Snyder’s push to purchase garbage trucks.
On Monday, Reeder said he told the grand jury he “felt like a pawn” and that Snyder knew about the 150-day delivery date Great Lakes Peterbilt was proposing. Reeder said that after his grand jury testimony Snyder called him to know what Reeder was asked about and what his answers were.
Snyder asked him to retract those statements because “they were not helpful to” his case, Reeder said.
On Monday, Reeder stated he knew that Snyder wanted the trucks “as fast as possible” so he talked with Great Lakes Peterbilt officials. Great Lakes Peterbilt mentioned a 150-day delivery date and Reeder said he worked with that number.
In fact, Reeder said when arranging the bid requirements he received from companies he prioritized delivery date over prices because Snyder said there was “urgency” in getting the garbage trucks.
As Jackie Bennett, Snyder’s attorney, asked Reeder if he “had information about there being urgency” to purchase the trucks, Snyder passed Bennett a note. When Reeder replied he knew Snyder wanted to automate the garbage system “as fast as possible,” Bennett shifted his questioning to how automating a garbage system takes time and “wouldn’t happen overnight.”
During cross examination, Reeder said he talked with Snyder about the 150-day delivery date after the bids were opened.
After Great Lakes Peterbilt won the bids, Reeder said that he could tell Snyder was pleased because “he was all smiles.” Reeder agreed with Bennett’s statement that Snyder could’ve been smiling after the bids were awarded because he had made a campaign promise to work with local companies and Great Lakes Peterbilt was based in Portage.
When Great Lakes Peterbilt sent recommendations for purchasing a 2012 garbage truck that sat in the lot for about two years, prosecutors have showed emails between Reeder, Snyder and the city attorney about how to purchase that truck without going to bid. The city attorney said a purchase over $150,000 has to go to bid, according to emails.
In response, Snyder asked Reeder how much the 2012 garbage truck cost, and Reeder told him between $180,000 and $200,000. Snyder then asked Reeder to see if Great Lakes Peterbilt could lower the price so that the city wouldn’t have to go to bid.
Reeder said Monday he’s “pretty sure” he called Great Lakes Peterbilt to ask.
“They weren’t able to do that,” Reeder said.
Reeder also said the 2012 truck did not meet bid requirements because it was not “new and unused and the same as the current manufacturing model.” Reeder said he and Snyder knew this, but the Board of Works – which is appointed by the mayor and approved the bid – did not.
But, Reeder said he did change the bid requirements to match the 2012 truck’s engine, transmission and steering capabilities. Reeder said he told Snyder that he made the bid adjustments, to which Snyder said, “Get it done.”
Later, Reeder said in the second round of bids the city ultimately bought the 2012 truck for $201,770 and the 2015 garbage truck for $223,585 from Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Reeder said he eventually learned of the $13,000 check that Snyder received from Great Lakes Peterbilt, and he asked Snyder about it. Snyder told Reeder he received the money for doing payroll and phone consulting for Great Lakes Peterbilt, but Snyder told investigators that he offered health care consulting.
Reeder also testified that Snyder asked him to email vendors to ask for money for his election campaign, such as hosting fundraising events, including Link Environmental Equipment and Great Lakes Peterbilt.
Former Portage mayor sought donations from city vendors, testimony in bribery trial reveals
NWI Times
Mar 16, 2021
HAMMOND — Just a few weeks after the city of Portage chose to purchase garbage trucks from the local Great Lakes Peterbilt, then-Mayor James Snyder instructed an employee to reach out to the company for a contribution to a mayoral fundraiser, according to testimony Tuesday morning in Snyder's federal bribery trial.
The testimony came from then-Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Sanitation Randy Reeder, who was granted prosecutorial immunity first thing Tuesday morning by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly.
Reeder, who often hesitated before responding and repeatedly requested reminders of his earlier testimony in the case, said this was not the only time Snyder sought money from vendors doing business with the city.
Snyder, a Republican, has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge he solicited and accepted the $13,000 in question from Great Lakes Peterbilt to corruptly influence the purchase of $1.125 million in garbage trucks for the city in 2013 from the politically connected business.
The former owners of the company were granted prosecutorial immunity Monday for their testimony, which is expected in the case.
Kennelly reminded jurors during testimony about the contributions from vendors that Snyder is only charged in connection with the $13,000 payment in question.
Reeder, who currently serves as the superintendent of streets and sanitation in Portage under Democratic Mayor Sue Lynch, further testified Tuesday that he sought to retract earlier testimony he had given in the case because it was not helpful to Snyder, who he referred to as his friend and then-boss.
"Did he ask you to do that?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked.
"Yes," Reeder responded.
Reeder, who had been dodging talking to government officials prior to receiving immunity, testified that Snyder put him in charge of the city bidding process, despite his lack of experience as compared to others on staff.
"Fair to say you wanted to please him?" Koster asked.
"Yes," Reeder replied.
Reeder said after Snyder told him there was an urgent need to get the new garbage trucks in question, he ranked the competitive bids with delivery date as a priority, which gave the edge to Great Lakes Peterbilt, who was awarded the sale.
The move cost the city nearly $60,000 over a lower-cost bid, he said.
Reeder stopped short of saying Snyder wanted to see the bid go to Great Lakes, but confirmed that he earlier testified that he felt like a "pawn" in the bidding process. He said he now regrets making that comment.
Reeder also testified that he did not inform the board of works that a subsequent purchase from Great Lakes involved a 2-year-old vehicle. He said he had ranked those bids by price, which again gave the company the edge.
He described Snyder as "all smiles" following the purchases from Great Lakes.
Snyder was indicted in late 2016 and was found guilty in early 2019 of the bribery charge and federal tax violations. The bribery verdict was overturned in late 2019, and a former judge in the case decided Snyder must face a new jury on the bribery charge, overruling defense arguments that a second trial was barred by the constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
Snyder is awaiting sentencing on the tax violations.
Attorneys Monday discussed claims that Snyder had accepted the $13,000 in question in return for providing health insurance advice to the trucking firm.
Tensions rise between judge, attorneys in retrial of former Portage mayor on soliciting bribes charge
Chicago Tribune
March 17, 2021
Tensions between the judge and attorneys flared in federal court Wednesday in the bribery retrial of James Snyder, former mayor of Portage.
After court started an hour behind schedule, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly ordered Snyder’s attorneys to give the prosecutors a list of witnesses they will call and in what order. Kennelly said that was an “order, underscored, signed by the judge,” because both sides had agreed to give notice of when witnesses will be called in.
“That’s what you have to do. It should’ve been done earlier,” Kennelly said.
A jury convicted Snyder, 42, 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 in February 2019. The jury acquitted Snyder for a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge. The retrial is being heard by Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, who is the third judge to review the case.
As FBI Special Agent Eric Field was answering a question from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster about the opening of the bids, Kennelly stopped the questioning to discuss something with the attorneys. Then, he called the jury out of the room.
With the jury out of the room, Kennelly, in a raised voice, said he already ruled on an objection made and that Koster couldn’t continue her line of questioning. He told her not to do it again and if it did happen again he would have the same conversation in front of the jury.
Koster said she was frustrated that she couldn’t make a record with the court about the ruling.
After the jury was dismissed for lunch, Koster asked to address the judge and told him she felt they were both frustrated. Koster said Kennelly is frustrated because he feels she isn’t listening to his objections, but what she is trying to do is follow the objection by shifting her questioning so that admissible evidence is still stated.
Kennelly said he has been fair with his objections.
“I completely disagree. I have given you an opportunity to respond to objections,” Kennelly said.
In his time as judge, Kennelly said he has “never seen a lawyer” who “consistently ignores or avoids rulings.”
“I haven’t seen anything like it,” Kennelly said.
When asked by Snyder’s attorney, Vivek Hadley, that there was nothing wrong with the first bid, that ultimately was awarded to Great Lakes Peterbilt, because it went to the “lowest, responsive bidder,” Field stated that wasn’t correct.
“We believe (the bid) was directed to Great Lakes Peterbilt and a payment was given,” Field said.
Hadley reminded Field that he previously responded “no” to that question and moved on.
The second round of bids, which included the 2012 garbage truck, asked for two new and unused garbage trucks in the first paragraph of the bid requirements, but that the paragraph doesn’t request the latest production model, Hadley said.
Field said he recalls the bid requirements for the second round stated the garbage truck had to be the current production model.
“I thought it did, so I’d have to review the whole document again,” Field said.
Hadley said that as long as a vehicle wasn’t sold or titled to another entity it can qualify as “new and unused” even if it sat on a lot. Field agreed.
In discussing the Dec. 17, 2013, Portage Board of Works meeting in which the first round of bids was opened, Hadley played a recording of that meeting in which envelopes were opened and prices read aloud. The tape showed that Great Lakes Peterbilt had the lowest purchase price, Field said.
Regarding the same board of works meeting, Koster asked Field if he knew if the bids were opened before the meeting. Field said he didn’t know. Koster then showed him envelopes with tape along the edges and raised questions about the signatures on the envelopes.
Koster showed Field the general terms of requirements for the second round of bids, which list current production model.
When asked if there were problems with the bidding process, Field said yes.
Defense takes over at former Portage mayor's bribery trial; truck bids take center stage
NWI Times
Mar 17, 2021
HAMMOND — An FBI investigator testified Wednesday morning he cannot say whether competitive truck bids at the heart of former Portage Mayor James Snyder's federal bribery trial were first opened at a public meeting.
Eric Field made the statement while being shown bid envelopes prosecutors said had been taped shut.
The testimony came as the defense began presenting its side of the case during the second week of trial.
Wednesday's testimony began more than an hour late, after the judge admonished the defense for not giving the government its schedule of witnesses and for providing witness names late into the night before.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly, of the Northern District of Illinois, then ended the morning session in a heated dispute over procedural issues with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster.
The defense spent much of the morning going over bidding procedures with Field.
Field appeared to back away from an earlier statement that he found nothing wrong with the first of two rounds of truck bids, which are key to the case.
Snyder, a Republican, has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge he solicited and accepted the $13,000 from Great Lakes Peterbilt of Portage to corruptly influence the purchase of $1.125 million in garbage trucks for the city in 2013 from the politically connected business.
Field confirmed the second truck purchase awarded to Great Lakes Peterbilt was based on the lowest-priced bid, but not the fastest delivery time as was the priority that time around.
Randy Reeder, who served as assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation under Snyder, testified Tuesday that after Snyder told him there was an urgent need to get new garbage trucks, he ranked the first round of competitive bids with delivery date as a priority. The change gave the edge to Great Lakes Peterbilt, who was awarded the sale, he said.
The move cost the city nearly $60,000 over a lower-cost bid, prosecutors said.
Snyder was indicted in late 2016 and was found guilty in early 2019 of the bribery charge and federal tax violations. The bribery verdict was overturned in late 2019.
A former judge in the case decided Snyder must face a new jury on the bribery charge, overruling defense arguments that a second trial was barred by the constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
Snyder is awaiting sentencing on the tax violations.
Attorneys on Monday discussed claims that Snyder had accepted the $13,000 in question in return for providing health insurance advice to the trucking firm.
Former trucking firm official testifies former Portage mayor asked for money; jury to return Friday to begin deliberations
Chicago Tribune
March 18, 2021
The jury heard closing arguments from attorneys in the retrial of James Snyder, former Portage mayor, on a soliciting bribes charge Thursday afternoon, and will return to the Hammond’s federal court Friday to deliberate his fate.
In February 2019, a jury convicted Snyder, 42, 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 on a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge. The retrial is being heard by Judge Matthew F. Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, who is the third judge to review the case.
During closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said that Snyder violated the public’s trust by steering the bids for the garbage truck contracts worth $1.25 million to Great Lakes Peterbilt and then asking for money from the company owners.
In the first round of bids, Koster pointed to Randy Reeder’s, assistant superintendent of Portage’s Streets and Sanitation Department, testimony about Snyder’s “urgency” to purchase a garbage truck in 150 days, which only Great Lakes Peterbilt could deliver on. In the second round of bids, Koster pointed to the conversation Snyder and Reeder had about asking Great Lakes Peterbilt to lower the price of a 2012 garbage truck so that there wouldn’t be a bid process.
“They were looking to do it directly. That’s what they wanted,” Koster said. “They were motivated and interested in this truck.”
Snyder further “injected himself” in the bidding process by communicating with the owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt before, during and after the bid processes.
After the second bid, Snyder — who was having financial trouble — went to the owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, Stephen and Robert Buha, and asked them for money, Koster said. Snyder claims to have done health insurance consulting, Koster said, but no contracts were written and there was no documented proof work was done.
“He just went to a company he knew got $1.25 million in contracts for a reward,” she said.
Snyder’s attorney, Jackie Bennett, said the prosecutors didn’t present direct evidence that the $13,000 signed by the Buha brothers was a bribe. Snyder didn’t conceal the bribe, like prosecutors stated, because it was deposited into an account with Snyder’s name associated with it.
Bennett said the only thing the prosecutors proved in the case was that Snyder was poor, and stated that Snyder went to Great Lakes Peterbilt to get a second job as a consultant to support his family. Koster asked the jury to consider how many people get a second job stating “I need money” and are handed a check for the work upfront.
Koster also reiterated there was no proof work was done, and that Snyder gave different explanationsto people on what work he did to earn the $13,000.
“The problem with lies is you have to keep them straight,” Koster said. “All of these explanations were after the fact to explain a payment that has no justification.”
Thursday morning, Robert Buha testified that Snyder came to him and his brother asking for money and that the mayor made known that he wanted the garbage truck bids to be awarded to the company.
Buha, 69, of Valparaiso, said that around Christmastime 2013, Snyder came to Great Lakes Peterbilt, unannounced and asked to meet with the owners, Robert and his brother, Stephen. Once the three were together, Snyder said, “I need money. That’s what I’m here for.”
Robert Buha said Snyder said his mayoral salary “wasn’t sufficient to sustain his family,” and that he owed money for taxes and personal expenses.
Snyder asked for a $15,000 loan, which the brothers did not agree to give, Robert Buha testified. Then, Snyder asked if he could work for the money. After some thought, they decided he could do consulting on insurance because Robert Buha was having difficulties figuring out the Affordable Care Act, he said.
After calculating what a minimum wage worker would receive for a year’s work, Buha calculated $13,000. Snyder asked for the money upfront and the bothers agreed and issued him a check Jan. 10, 2014, Robert Buha said.
Buha said that Snyder gave some advice on how to provide health insurance for union and nonunion employees, but that those were conversations and no documents were handed over. For technology consulting, Snyder did not give “as much” advice as he did on health insurance, Robert Buha said.
“He and I did have discussions about it, and he had ideas and advice,” Buha said.
Snyder did not write up a contract, file an invoice or provide other documentation to prove he did work for Great Lakes Peterbilt. He also didn’t write up a disclosure sheet with the city about the work he was doing with Great Lakes Peterbilt, which Robert Buha said was important to him.
Ultimately, he said, Snyder did not perform work worth $13,000.
“It’s like you hire a controller or accountant and they don’t have a degree in accounting,” Robert Buha told a grand jury previously, which was read into the record.
On the morning the FBI came to visit Snyder in July 2014, Snyder called Buha and asked him to come pick him up. Buha arrived at Snyder’s house and Snyder got in the car and they drove around.
While in the car, Buha said, Snyder told him the FBI is asking questions about the $13,000 check Great Lakes Peterbilt wrote to Snyder’s SRC Consulting account. Snyder told him that the FBI will come ask the Buha brothers about that, Buha testified.
Buha told the FBI agents, who showed up later that afternoon, that he thought Snyder gave the business a contract for his work, but he later learned Snyder didn’t submit any documentation.
Robert Buha described Snyder as “a pest” but, given Snyder’s status as mayor, Buha said he felt pressured to give him money when asked, because Snyder was “a man of influence.”
“He’s the mayor and has influence,” Robert Buha said.
Mayor pressed businessman to cover personal, holiday expenses, testimony in bribery case alleges
NWI Times
Mar 18, 2021
HAMMOND — A then-owner of Great Lakes Peterbilt told a jury Thursday morning that he felt pressured when shortly before Christmas 2013 then-Portage Mayor James Snyder showed up at his office asking for money.
"He is the mayor and he has influence," Robert Buha said as the evidence portion of Snyder's federal bribery trial drew to a close and jurors prepared to begin deliberating Friday morning on his fate.
Snyder initially asked for a loan to help cover tax issues, and for personal and holiday expenses, Buha said. Buha, who said he was shocked by the request, declined to loan the money.
Snyder then pitched the idea of providing the company with insurance advice on the then-newly implemented Affordable Care Act and help the firm with its computer needs, Buha said.
While Snyder requested $15,000, a check was cut for $13,000 as an advanced payment of Snyder's supposed services, Buha said.
Federal prosecutors allege the check was an illegal bribe.
Snyder never followed through by providing a consulting contract, nor did he provide a conflict-of-interest form publicly disclosing the payment as an elected official, Buha said.
Buha also said he was unaware of Snyder providing his company with any documents or showing up to talk to anyone as part of his consulting work.
"I hired him as a consultant," said Buha, who had been granted prosecutorial immunity for his testimony. "Did I feel pressured into it? We went over that."
Snyder, a Republican, has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge he solicited and accepted the $13,000 from Great Lakes Peterbilt of Portage to corruptly influence the purchase of $1.125 million in garbage trucks for the city in 2013 from the politically connected business.
Snyder exercised his right not to testify.
Buha testified Thursday he received a request from Snyder in July 2014 to meet Snyder at the mayor's house. The mayor met Buha outside and suggested they go for a drive, Buha said.
"He told me the FBI had visited him (that day)," Buha said.
Snyder said the federal agents had questioned him about the $13,000 payment and then warned that they would come looking for paperwork associated with the deal, Buha testified.
Buha said when he returned to his office that day, federal agents were there waiting for him.
Buha, who said he provided campaign contributions to Snyder, defended his close business dealings with the former mayor.
"He always emphasized he wanted that business to stay in the city," Buha said.
Snyder was indicted in late 2016 and was found guilty in early 2019 of the bribery charge and federal tax violations. The bribery verdict was overturned in late 2019.
A former judge in the case decided Snyder must face a new jury on the bribery charge, overruling defense arguments that a second trial was barred by the constitutional protection against double jeopardy. Snyder is awaiting sentencing on the tax violations.
In closing arguments on Thursday afternoon, Snyder's attorney, Jackie M. Bennett, argued that given the circumstances, it made no sense for the company to take an alleged bribe and claimed the government lacked solid evidence to support the allegations.
The defense also refuted the notion that Snyder's financial standing should be used as evidence for the government's accusations. Bennett said while the former mayor was struggling to support his family with a "plummeting" income and had trouble paying taxes, the condition of his finances at the time of the allegations were consistent with his claim of innocence. Bennett argued the jury had to decide whether Snyder was simply a man working a second job to feed his family or whether he was a "bad man" accepting a bribe.
"Being poor doesn't make you a criminal," Bennett said.
The prosecution argued that Snyder's finances were an alleged motive for financial gains by illegal means.
"How many people ask for a job by saying, 'I need money,'?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said in her closing statement. "That's not the hallmark of a poor person. That's the hallmark of a corrupt politician. So don't feel bad for Snyder going through financial difficulties. Be repulsed on how he handled (his situation)."
Koster further stated there was no evidence of work being done in relation to the money in question.
"These are explanations after the fact to justify a payment that has no legal justification," she said.
Federal Jury Convicts Former Mayor of Portage, Ind., on Bribery Charge
US DOJ
Friday, March 19, 2021
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/federal-jury-convicts-former-mayor-portage-ind-bribery-charge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHICAGO — A federal jury today convicted the former mayor of Portage, Ind., on a bribery charge for soliciting and pocketing money in connection with the awarding of city contracts.
The jury in U.S. District Court in Hammond, Ind., convicted JAMES SNYDER, 43, of Portage, Ind., on one count of bribery. Evidence at the two-week trial revealed that while serving as mayor, Snyder corruptly solicited and received $13,000 from a business that received more than $1.125 million in city contracts. The conviction is punishable by up to ten years in federal prison.
Snyder was also convicted following a prior trial in 2019 of obstructing and impeding collection efforts of the IRS. He faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison on that charge. Sentencing for both charges is set for July 1, 2021.
The verdict today was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Paul Keenan, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Indianapolis Field Office of the FBI; and Tamera Cantu, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The Indiana State Police provided valuable assistance. The government was represented at trial by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill R. Koster of the Northern District of Indiana, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ankur Srivastava of the Northern District of Illinois. The prosecution was supervised by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois upon recusals by supervisory personnel from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana.
Former Portage Mayor James Snyder found guilty in retrial on soliciting bribes charge
Chicago Tribune
March 19, 2021
A federal court jury found former Portage mayor James Snyder guilty of soliciting bribes as his two-week retrial on the charge concluded Friday morning.
Between Thursday afternoon and Friday, the jury deliberated for less than two hours. When the jury entered the courtroom around 10:45 a.m., Judge Matthew F. Kennelly, with the Northern District of Illinois, asked for the verdict sheet.
Kennelly got out of his seat to receive the sheet from a clerk, read it to himself, then asked the clerk to read the verdict aloud. After the verdict was read, Snyder’s father, watching the trial from the jury assembly room, hung his head.
After the jury was excused, Snyder stood up and did not look at the jurors as they walked out. He left the court house shortly after 11 a.m., holding hands with his wife.
The conviction is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison.
Snyder had no comment on the verdict. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 1.
In February 2019, a jury convicted Snyder, 43, 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 on a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge. The retrial was heard by Kennelly, who is the third judge to review the case.
Thursday afternoon, attorneys presented their closing arguments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said that Snyder violated the public’s trust, and “looked out for himself,” by steering the bids for the garbage truck contracts worth $1.25 million to Great Lakes Peterbilt and then asking for money from the company owners.
Koster pointed to ways that Snyder “injected himself” into the bidding process, from talking to the owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt to hiring a trusted friend with little experience to lead the bidding process. That friend, Randy Reeder, former assistant superintendent of Portage’s Streets and Sanitation Department, told a grand jury that he “felt like a pawn” during the bidding process.
After the second bid, Snyder — who was having financial trouble — went to the owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, Stephen and Robert Buha, and asked them for money, Koster said. Snyder claims to have done health insurance consulting, Koster said, but no contracts were written and there was no documented proof work was done.
“He just went to a company he knew got $1.25 million in contracts for a reward,” she said.
Snyder’s attorney, Jackie Bennett, said the prosecutors didn’t present direct evidence that the $13,000 signed by the Buha brothers was a bribe. Snyder didn’t conceal the bribe, like prosecutors stated, because it was deposited into an account with Snyder’s name associated with it.
Bennett said the only thing the prosecutors proved in the case was that Snyder was poor, and stated that Snyder went to Great Lakes Peterbilt to get a second job as a consultant to support his family. Koster asked the jury to consider how many people get a second job stating “I need money” and are handed a check for the work upfront.
Koster also reiterated there was no proof work was done, and that Snyder gave different explanations to people on what work he did to earn the $13,000.
“The problem with lies is you have to keep them straight,” Koster said. “All of these explanations were after the fact to explain a payment that has no justification.
After receiving immunity Monday with his brother, Robert Buha testified Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning as a witness called by Snyder’s attorneys.
Buha testified that around Christmas 2013 Snyder came to the business, unannounced, and asked to meet with the owners. During that meeting, Snyder asked the owners for $15,000 stating he was behind on tax payments and for Christmas expenses.
Snyder originally asked for a loan, Buha said, but the brothers didn’t like that idea.
“That’s when (Snyder) said, ‘I can work for it,’” Buha said.
The brothers thought about it, Buha said, and knew that Snyder couldn’t sell or engineer trucks. But, Buha said, he was struggling with figuring out health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, so they agreed Snyder could assist with that.
Buha said he calculated work done at $250 a week for a year, based on what he believed to be minimum wage at the time, and came up with $13,000.
When asked by Snyder’s attorneys what work was done, Buha said a lot of discussions were held.
“He and I did have discussions about it, and he had ideas and advice,” Buha said.
Snyder also helped with IT consulting, Buha said, but “not as much as insurance” help.
Buha testified that a contract for the work wasn’t written up, and Snyder never gave them documents or presentations of work he did.
When the FBI reached out to Snyder in July 2014, Buha testified Snyder immediately called him and asked to be picked up from home. Buha, who said it took a few minutes for him to find Snyder’s address, drove over to Snyder’s house.
Snyder was outside when Buha pulled up, he testified, and Snyder’s children were outside, too. Snyder got in the car and told Buha to drive.
While driving around, Buha said Snyder told him that the FBI came to talk to him and that the agents were asking about a $13,000 check the Buha’s wrote to SRC Consulting, an alleged consulting company Sndyer owns.
The company, Koster said, did not exist other than being written on the check. The check was deposited into an account on Jan. 10, 2014, and before the check was deposited the account had $177.10, Gerard Hatagan, an IRS agent who investigated Snyder, testified.
The same day the check was deposited, $5,000 was transferred to Snyder’s family account, Hatagan said. Six days later, $2,000 was transferred to the family account, he said.
On Jan. 24, 2014, there was another transfer of $1,750 to the family account, Hatagan said. A week later, a utility payment was made for $850 from the account, he said.
On Feb. 6, 2014, there were two transfers of $500 each, one transfer to the family account and the other to Snyder’s campaign account, Hatagan said.
Buha described Snyder as “a pest” but, given Snyder’s status as mayor, Buha said he felt pressured to give him money when asked, because Snyder was “a man of influence.”
“He’s the mayor and has influence,” Robert Buha said.
Portage officials glad Snyder retrial over, express hope for the city’s recovery
Chicago Tribune
March 19, 2021
Portage and Porter County officials said they are hopeful the city can move forward now that former Mayor James Snyder has been convicted, for the second time, on a federal bribery charge involving a garbage truck contract while acknowledging the conviction Friday was a sad day for the city and Snyder’s family.
“First and foremost, I am happy to have this issue finally coming to an end, not just for our city but for the many lives that have been affected. It is sad to see Portage will forever have the stigma of having two of our elected officials convicted of corruption charges,” Portage Mayor Sue Lynch said, referring to former Clerk-Treasurer Christopher Stidham, a Democrat who is awaiting sentencing next month after pleading guilty to a felony charge of conflict of interest.
Lynch, a Democrat, served as council president under Snyder and was an at-large representative on the council at the time. She was first elected to the council in 2008 and served as acting mayor for two weeks in February 2019, when Snyder was first convicted.
“Portage needs to move forward and put this behind us. We have been in the headlines with negative press far too long. Our city and our residents deserve better,” she said.
Snyder, a Republican, was first elected mayor in 2011 and was reelected in 2015.
The last year of his second term was cut short in February 2019 when a federal jury convicted him 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 from the IRS when he owed personal and business taxes. A jury acquitted Snyder on a third count, alleging he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on the city’s tow list. He was initially indicted in November 2016.
His conviction Friday came after a retrial on the bribery charge for the garbage trucks. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 1 in U.S. District Court in Hammond on that count and the one involving the IRS.
“I am happy this case is finally coming to an end after four and a half years. As a city, we need to move on from the actions of a former mayor and look forward,” said City Council President Collin Czilli, D-5th, who served on the council when Snyder was mayor. “Obviously, I am disappointed in the actions of the former mayor. However, I believe all of us in city government have shown that we can govern with honesty and integrity, despite the actions of one or two corrupt individuals.”
Stidham, 38, of the 3900 block of Wingstem Drive, Portage, was charged in February 2020 with official misconduct, a felony, for allegedly hiring his then-girlfriend, whom he later married, as a contractor for bookkeeping and other services for the city that were never provided.
Under a plea agreement that Stidham agreed to in November, he will pay almost $57,000 in restitution, with much of that going back to the city of Portage. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. April 12 before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer.
For now, officials are focused on getting past Snyder’s conviction.
“Mother was right. Crime doesn’t pay,” said Dan Whitten, Portage’s city attorney. “When people choose for whatever reason to act outside the law, they need to be brought to answer for their crimes. It’s a sad day for his family. The city can now move past this unfortunate bit of history and look forward.”
Porter County Republican Party Chairman Michael Simpson agreed about Friday’s somber tone for Snyder, his family and those close to him.
“For the citizens former Mayor James Snyder served in office, and for those of us who consider him a friend, this news is heartbreaking,” Simpson said. “We most especially feel horrible for his wife and children as they will bear the brunt of this verdict.”
John Cannon, a Republican who was selected by caucus to finish the last year of Snyder’s term in office, was elected to represent District 4 on the City Council in 2012. He lost in to Lynch in a bid for mayor.
Though he did not return a request for comment about Snyder’s conviction, Cannon blamed the federal government in November for delays in the case and noted Snyder’s achievements during his time in office.
“Even if he’s guilty, and I’m praying that’s not the case, the powers that be dragged this thing out,” he said then. “If you look back nine years ago, the transformation that the city went through, it’s all positive.”
Those accomplishments include the development of Founders Square, including a splash pad and amphitheater; roadwork throughout the city, done in part through the passage of a controversial wheel tax; new police and fire stations; automation of the city’s garbage trucks, which brought down the city’s worker compensation costs; and an open-air pavilion at the lakefront, among other projects.
“All these things are the impact of James Snyder and me finishing his term,” Cannon has said.
Snyder often had a rocky relationship with Porter County officials, tangling over the placement of a new animal shelter and about whether the county should build a new annex in the city’s downtown.
Porter County Council President Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd, whose district includes Portage, called for Snyder to resign in the days after his indictment.
Rivas said he was relieved about the verdict, especially since if Snyder had been found not guilty, he would have had the ability to go after the city for reimbursement of his legal fees, something the city couldn’t afford.
Still, Rivas recognized the gravity of the verdict.
“It’s sad,” said Rivas, whose wife, Nina, serves as Portage’s clerk-treasurer. “He created a culture there and invited other people into it. He tore the city apart for eight years.”
Former Portage mayor convicted for 2nd time on bribery charges
Chicago Sun Times
March 19, 2012
A former mayor of Portage, Indiana, was convicted on a bribery charge for the second time Friday for pocketing money from a local business in exchange for lucrative city contracts.
James Snyder, 43, solicited and took $13,000 from a local business while he served as mayor between 2012 and 2014, and handed them over $1.125 million in city contracts in return, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Snyder was already convicted on the bribery charge, along with multiple felony tax charges, in 2019. It was not immediately clear why a retrial was ordered.
The conviction is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and up to three years for charges that he obstructed and impeded the IRS, prosecutors said.
His sentencing for both charges is set for July 1.
Former Portage Mayor guilty on federal bribery charge for second time; officials ready to put case behind
NWI Times
March 19, 2021
HAMMOND — Former Portage Mayor James Snyder on Friday was again found guilty on a federal bribery charge, stemming from accusations he accepted a $13,000 check from a local trucking firm seven years ago to corruptly influence the purchase of $1.125 million in garbage trucks.
Snyder was first found guilty on the bribery count in early 2019, along with federal tax violations. The bribery verdict was overturned later that year and a former judge in the case ordered a retrial.
After nearly two weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated less than two hours Thursday night and Friday morning before returning with their verdict shortly before 11 a.m. Sentencing is scheduled for July 1.
Snyder opted not to testify on his own behalf and declined to answer questions as he left the federal court building holding hands with wife Deborah. His immediate reaction after the verdict was to lean forward at the defense table with his hands near his face. Members of his family, who watched the trial from remote rooms at the federal courthouse due to COVID-19 restrictions, were silent after hearing the verdict.
Officials respond
"First and foremost I am happy to have this issue finally coming to an end, not just for our city but for the many lives that have been affected," said Sue Lynch, the current mayor of Portage.
"It is sad to see Portage will forever have the stigma of having two of our elected officials convicted of corruption charges," she said, referring to fellow Democrat Chris Stidham, who in November pleaded guilty in county court to allegations of misusing his former position as clerk-treasurer in 2015 and 2016 to illegally pay tens of thousands of dollars in city funds to companies registered to his then-girlfriend and current wife, Rachel E. Glass.
Stidham is scheduled to be sentenced April 12, according to court records.
"Portage needs to move forward and put this behind us," Lynch said. "We have been in the headlines with negative press far too long. Our city and our residents deserve better."
Porter County Republican Party Chairman Michael Simpson said, "For the citizens former (Republican) Mayor James Snyder served in office, and for those of us who consider him a friend, this news is heartbreaking. We most especially feel horrible for his wife and children as they will bear the brunt of this verdict."
Portage City Council President Collin Czilli said, "I am happy this case is finally coming to an end after four and half years. As a city, we need to move on from the actions of a former mayor and look forward."
"Obviously, I am disappointed in the actions of the former mayor," he said. "However, I believe all of us in city government have shown that we can govern with honesty and integrity, despite the actions of one or two corrupt individuals."
Portage City Councilwoman Debbie Podgorski said, "I am glad this is finally over and our city can truly heal. I am disappointed in James Snyder, for his actions hurt this city I love and call home. As a newly elected official, I am so proud to be a part of a team that works together with honesty and integrity for the city of Portage and we all are working hard to do our part in that healing process. Finally, I pray for James Snyder's family."
Portage City Councilman Brian Gulley said, "Moments like these have the potential to erode the public’s trust in elected officials. I believe Mayor Lynch made it crystal clear in her State of the City address (Thursday) that Portage has spent the last year working hard to move past the last few years of poor leadership. Today’s judgement officially closes this chapter and only furthers my resolve to deliver on my promise to serve with integrity."
Portage City Councilman Ferdinand Alvarez said, "While I am saddened for our city and its image, I am relieved to see this saga finally come to a conclusion after all these years, and I remain optimistic that we can put this behind us once and for all."
Portage City attorney Dan Whitten said, "Mother was right. Crime doesn’t pay. When people choose for whatever reason to act outside the law, they need to be brought to answer for their crimes. Sad day for his family. The city can now move past this unfortunate bit of history and look forward."
Witness said he felt pressured
Testimony in the trial concluded Thursday morning with a former owner of Great Lakes Peterbilt in Portage telling the jury that he felt pressured when, shortly before Christmas 2013, Snyder showed up at his office asking for money.
"He is the mayor and he has influence," Robert Buha said.
Snyder initially asked for a loan to help cover tax issues, and for personal and holiday expenses, Buha said. Buha, who said he was shocked by the request, declined to loan the money.
Snyder then pitched the idea of providing the company with insurance advice on the then-newly implemented Affordable Care Act and help the firm with its computer needs, Buha said.
While Snyder requested $15,000, a check was cut for $13,000 as an advanced payment of Snyder's supposed services, Buha said.
Federal prosecutors allege the check was an illegal bribe.
Snyder never followed through by providing a consulting contract, nor did he provide a conflict-of-interest form publicly disclosing the payment as an elected official, Buha said.
Buha also said he was unaware of Snyder providing his company with any documents or showing up to talk to anyone as part of his consulting work.
"I hired him as a consultant," said Buha, who had been granted prosecutorial immunity for his testimony. "Did I feel pressured into it? We went over that."
Jury convicts former NW Indiana mayor of bribery in retrial
NWI Times
Mar 19, 2021
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — A federal jury convicted a former northwestern Indiana mayor on a bribery charge Friday in his retrial on allegations he solicited and accepted a $13,000 bribe from a trucking company.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Hammond deliberated less than two hours before former finding Portage mayor James Snyder, 42, guilty on a federal bribery charge. He is set to be sentenced July 1.
Another jury had convicted Snyder in February 2019 of taking the $13,000 in exchange for contracts to sell five garbage trucks to the city of Portage using a shell company to hide income assets from the IRS while Snyder owed back personal and business taxes.
But a judge granted Snyder a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge in November 2019. After numerous delays his retrial began March 8.
Trial testimony concluded Thursday with a former owner of Great Lakes Peterbilt telling jurors he felt pressured when, shortly before Christmas 2013, Snyder showed up at the trucking company's office asking for money.
“He is the mayor and he has influence,” Robert Buha said.
In Friday's closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said Snyder violated the public’s trust by steering the bids for the garbage truck contracts worth $1.25 million to Great Lakes Peterbilt and then asking its owners, brothers Robert and Stephen Buha, for money.
Snyder’s attorney, Jackie Bennett, said prosecutors didn’t present direct evidence that the $13,000 check signed by the brothers was a bribe.
Former Portage Mayor James Snyder convicted for 2nd time on bribery charges
Former mayor also charged with obstructing, impeding IRS, prosecutors said
ABC News 7 - Chicago
March 20, 2021
PORTAGE, Ind. -- A former mayor of Portage, Indiana, was convicted on a bribery charge for the second time Friday for pocketing money from a local business in exchange for lucrative city contracts.
James Snyder, 43, solicited and took $13,000 from a local business while he served as mayor between 2012 and 2014, and handed them over $1.125 million in city contracts in return, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Snyder was already convicted on the bribery charge, along with multiple felony tax charges, in 2019. It was not immediately clear why a retrial was ordered.
The conviction is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and up to three years for charges that he obstructed and impeded the IRS, prosecutors said.
His sentencing for both charges is set for July 1.
