08202021 - News Article - UPDATE: Former Portage mayor to be sentenced 'one way or another' in October

 

UPDATE: Former Portage mayor to be sentenced 'one way or another' in October

NWI Times

August 20, 2021

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-former-portage-mayor-to-be-sentenced-one-way-or-another-in-october/article_7be53982-fb55-5653-aaca-7b683fd8154e.html

HAMMOND — A federal judge has set the final sentencing date for former Portage Mayor James Snyder's bribery and tax violation convictions after he replaced his defense team.

On Friday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly scheduled the sentencing hearing for 1 p.m. Oct. 13, stating that Snyder will be sentenced that day, "period," in a teleconference. 

Snyder filed a motion Thursday seeking a delay of at least 60 days after he retained attorney Andréa E. Gambino, of Chicago.

The judge ruled the 60-day request was "not warranted and not feasible," due in part to scheduling conflicts. He stated the October date is more than a sufficient amount of time for Gambino to review the case.

Gambino and the government agreed on the date and the motion to substitute was granted. Gambino said she plans to have three to four good character witnesses and one additional potential witness who testified in the trial.

Kennelly stated in no uncertain terms that Snyder would be sentenced Oct. 13 "one way or another."

A status hearing phone conference was also set for Oct. 6 at 8:30 a.m.

The delay was sought, "to allow new counsel sufficient time to review the record, including trial transcripts, this Court’s orders, Presentence Investigation Report, Addendum to the Presentence Investigation Report, and relevant filings of current counsel and the government," the motion reads. "New counsel also requests time to supplement filings on behalf of Mr. Snyder, interview and prepare witnesses on Mr. Snyder’s behalf, and submit any appropriate objections to the Presentence Investigation Report and its recently filed Addendum."

The motion came less than a week after Kennelly denied Snyder's request for a new trial or acquittal of his bribery conviction. Kennelly ruled Snyder received a fair trial earlier this year.

A federal jury found Snyder, a Republican, guilty March 19 of corruptly soliciting and receiving a $13,000 bribe as mayor eight years ago from a Portage truck dealership for steering city business to the firm.

It was the second time a jury found Snyder guilty of the offense in two years.

Snyder is asking the judge to replace his defense team of Jackie M. Bennett, Jr., Vivek R. Hadley and Jayna M. Cacioppo, of Taft Stettinius & Hollister of Indianapolis for the purpose of sentencing.

"Counsel Gambino has consulted with Attorneys Bennett and Hadley, who do not object to the Motion and are willing to support counsel Gambino to facilitate the transition and enable counsel Gambino to prepare for Mr. Snyder’s sentencing in an efficient and timely manner," the motion reads.

The motion continues: "In view of the length of the government’s investigation, its decision to try Mr. Snyder twice, and the disruption occasioned by a year and one-half of living through a global pandemic, Mr. Snyder’s request for a delay in sentencing to ensure his full preparation with new counsel will not prejudice the government. Nor is it Mr. Snyder’s intention to inconvenience the Court, only to be able to present the best possible case for a non-carceral sentence."

Snyder asked the judge last month to spare him from prison when he is sentenced.

"A sentence of imprisonment is unnecessary to further the objectives of either general or specific deterrence," the defense wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

"Any reasonable person in the region viewing this case would understand the costs imposed on Mr. Snyder and his family, quite apart from any prison term," the defense wrote. "No observer of this case could take away any message other than that similar conduct risks devastating, fundamentally life-changing results."

Prosecutors are seeking a lengthy prison sentence for Snyder, saying it should fall within the federal sentencing guidelines of between 46 to 57 months.

The defense has attempted to downplay Snyder's tax violation conviction by saying his mortgage loan origination business fell victim to the economic recession of 2008.

08202021 - News Article - Former Portage mayor gets new attorney; new sentencing set for October

Former Portage mayor gets new attorney; new sentencing set for October

Chicago Tribune

August 20, 2021

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-snyder-sentencing-extended-st-0822-20210820-ns5tzkqsdvdafcjgjs3dzh4zkq-story.html

Former Portage Mayor James Snyder received approval to hire a new attorney and was granted an extension on his sentencing hearing during a teleconference hearing Friday.

Snyder was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, but the hearing was pushed to Oct. 13 so that his new attorney, Andrea Gambino, who represented ex-Calumet Township employee Ethel Shelton, has time to review the case.

Gambino will replace Jackie M. Bennett Jr., Vivek R. Hadley and Jayna M. Cacioppo, of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP “for the purpose of sentencing,” according to court records. Bennett and Hadley “do not object to the motion and are willing to support counsel Gambino to facilitate the transition and enable counsel Gambino to prepare for Mr. Snyder’s sentencing in an efficient and timely manner.”

In the court document, Gambino requested at least a 60-day continuation of the sentencing to give her time to review records.

“In view of the length of the government’s investigation, its decision to try Mr. Snyder twice, and the disruption occasioned by a year and one-half of living through a global pandemic, Mr. Snyder’s request for a delay in sentencing to ensure his full preparation with new counsel will not prejudice the government,” Gambino wrote in the court filing.

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 Judge Matthew F. Kennelly, from the Northern District of Illinois, who is the third judge to review the case.

In March, after a two-week retrial, a federal court jury found Snyder guilty of soliciting bribes.

During a teleconference Friday, Kennelly granted the motion for Gambino to represent Snyder. When asked if he supported changing his representation, Snyder, who attended the teleconference, said “yeah.”

Gambino will have until Oct. 4 to make a sentencing recommendation. In a previous court filing, Bennett requested “a below guidelines, noncustodial sentence” because “the defense still believes Mr. Snyder should be acquitted as a matter of law.”

Prosecutors stated that Snyder should be sentenced “within the applicable guideline range,” which is 46 to 57 months.

“There is also a need for specific deterrence in this case. Throughout this investigation and prosecution, Snyder has denied his guilt, expressed no remorse for his conduct and maintained that he did nothing wrong,” according to the prosecutor’s sentencing recommendation.

Given his schedule, Kennelly said, “the latest date” he could offer for sentencing is Oct. 13, which all the parties agreed to. Gambino said she would present three or four character witness, and one witness that is “something more.”

When Kennelly asked what this “something more” witness would discuss, Gambino said the witness would address Randy Reeder, who was the assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation at the time of Snyder’s November 2016 indictment. During Snyder’s retrial, Reeder said that Snyder told him to recant statements he made to the grand jury.

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.

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.

During the Friday teleconference, Kennelly said that “one way or another, whatever (Gambino) plan(s) to do,” Snyder will be sentenced Oct. 13.

“I am sentencing Mr. Snyder on the afternoon of Oct. 13. Period. Full stop,” Kennelly said.

08132021 - News Article - Judge affirms bribery verdict against former Portage mayor James Snyder

 

Judge affirms bribery verdict against former Portage mayor James Snyder

Kokomo Perspective

Aug 13, 2021

http://kokomoperspective.com/politics/indiana/judge-affirms-bribery-verdict-against-former-portage-mayor-james-snyder/article_0200e643-1458-59a4-89b6-c317f75e6e95.html

HAMMOND — A federal judge is denying former Portage Mayor James E. Snyder’s demands for a new trial or acquittal of his conviction for bribery.

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly ruled Friday Snyder received a fair trial earlier this year.

A federal jury found Snyder guilty March 19 of corruptly soliciting and receiving a $13,000 bribe eight years ago from a Portage truck dealership for steering city business to the firm.

It was the second time a jury found Snyder guilty in two years.

Another federal judge overturned the first bribery verdict on grounds aggressive tactics by federal prosecutors denied Snyder his day in court.

Snyder's defense team made the same pitch after this year’s trial, claiming new errors and prosecutorial misconduct constituted prejudice against the former mayor yet again.

But Judge Kennelly, who presided over the trial in March, disagreed Friday in a 15-page ruling. He denied Snyder’s demands to be acquitted of bribery or granted a third jury trial.

That leaves the 43-year-old Republican facing the prospect of multiple years in prison when he is sentenced, now scheduled to take place Aug. 25.

Voters elected Snyder mayor of Portage, the area’s third largest city, in 2011.

A federal grand jury indicted Snyder in late 2016 on two counts of bribery and one count of corrupt tax interference.

A 2019 jury trial left the case in a state of confusion that took lawyers two years to untangle.

Jurors in 2019 found Snyder guilty of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to collect unpaid taxes on a private mortgage company he ran.

Jurors acquitted Snyder of soliciting bribes from city towing firms.

But the same jury found Snyder guilty of soliciting and accepting $13,000 from the owners of Portage’s Great Lakes Peterbilt dealership, longtime political donors to Snyder.

Prosecutors alleged the dealership owners, Steve and Bob Buha, rewarded Snyder in 2014 for steering $1.125 million in city contracts to them the previous year.

However, U.S. District Court Judge Joe Van Bokkelen, who presided over the 2019 jury trial, overturned the trucking bribery count later that same year and bowed out of the case.

Snyder’s defense team successfully complained the prosecution unfairly intimidated the Buha brothers with threats to punish them if they lied on the witness stand.

The brothers took the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify at all during the 2019 trial. Judge Van Bokkelen ruled the prosecution’s “gamesmanship” involving the Buhas denied Snyder a fair trial.

That set up a second jury trial, beginning March 8 this year.

The new jury heard essentially the same evidence as the first — in addition to testimony from Robert Buha.

Robert Buha testified in March he felt pressured by Snyder’s demands to be hired as a consultant to the dealership.

The second jury found Snyder guilty March 19 after 10 days of testimony, argument and jury deliberation.

Kennelly, who presided over the March trial, ruled Friday the jury made a rational decision to find Snyder guilty based on the evidence they heard.

The judge said that while the prosecution didn’t direct testimony or documentary evidence that the money was a bribe, they didn’t have to.

He said jurors concluded it was a bribe from the circumstances surrounding the payment — circumstances the prosecution argued were clearly incriminating.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said Snyder’s tax problems left him desperate for money and the Buhas’ dealership was in financial distress over a lack of truck sales.

Witnesses for the prosecution testified Snyder rigged the city’s purchase of new, automated garbage trucks to favor the Buhas inventory of garbage trucks over those of competing trucking vendors.

Buha testified Snyder asked — within weeks of the city garbage truck contracts — for a loan to help cover Snyder’s tax issues and other personal expenses.

When Buha declined the loan, Snyder pitched the idea of being paid by the Buhas for providing their company with health insurance advice.

The truck dealership’s financial officer, Brett Searle, testified Robert Buha directed him to issue a $13,000 check to Snyder’s consulting firm, but Searle testified that Robert Buha told him they were really paying Snyder for an "inside track” on city business.

Snyder didn’t testify at his trial, but the judge said jurors reasonably concluded Snyder lied to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents when he denied wrongdoing over the garbage truck deal during his interview with them years ago.

Snyder’s legal team argued the jury verdict was improperly based on false testimony and speculation.

The judge disagreed, concluding, “The $13,000 was the bribe or reward that Snyder was convicted of corruptly soliciting, demanding, accepting, or agreeing to accept.”

08122021 - News Article - Former Portage mayor seeking to avoid prison in federal bribery, tax violation case

 

Former Portage mayor seeking to avoid prison in federal bribery, tax violation case

NWI Times

UPDATED Aug 12, 2021

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-portage-mayor-seeking-to-avoid-prison-in-federal-bribery-tax-violation-case/article_ae3a1c56-8c4e-5ee6-9482-397d4679061a.html

HAMMOND — Former Portage Mayor James Snyder has asked a federal judge to spare him from prison when he is sentenced next month on bribery and tax violation charges.

"A sentence of imprisonment is unnecessary to further the objectives of either general or specific deterrence," the defense wrote in a newly-filed sentencing memorandum.

"Any reasonable person in the region viewing this case would understand the costs imposed on Mr. Snyder and his family, quite apart from any prison term," the defense wrote. "No observer of this case could take away any message other than that similar conduct risks devastating, fundamentally life-changing results."

Prosecutors are seeking a lengthy prison sentence for Snyder, saying it should fall within the federal sentencing guidelines of between 46 to 57 months.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster argued in a memorandum to the court last month that justice demands Snyder’s imprisonment to deter other elected officials from public corruption.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois, who was brought in to oversee the local case, delayed sentencing this week from July 16 to Aug. 25.

The judge said he is unavailable this month due to jury trials, according to court records.

The defense memorandum goes into detail about the 43-year-old Snyder's past, describing him as hardworking since childhood and a provider to his early and later family members.

"Apart from the allegations in this case, James Snyder has no criminal history," the defense says.

The defense attempts to downplay Snyder's tax violation conviction by saying his mortgage loan origination business fell victim to the economic recession of 2008.

"Rather than simply firing his employees and declaring the business bankrupt, Mr. Snyder attempted to keep the business running in the hope that the economy would turn around and that he’d be able to pay the taxes owed," the defense argues.

Snyder, a Republican, went on to strike an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to pay his overdue tax bill, but was indicted on charges of "endeavoring to obstruct the collection of those same taxes," his legal team said.

Prosecutors argued during this second bribery trial in March that, "Mr. Snyder was so desperate to repay those same taxes that he engaged in felony corruption to do so."

Snyder was twice found guilty of soliciting and accepting a $13,000 bribe in 2014 in return for steering a $1.125 million garbage collection contract for the city of Portage to the local Great Lakes Peterbilt company.

"Apart from his very high-level involvement, Mayor Snyder had nothing to do with the eventual specifications, nor did he play any role in influencing who the lowest qualified bidder would be," his legal team argues.

"Mr. Snyder is devoutly religious and family oriented," the defense said. "In addition to payment of taxes on the $13,000 sum the government claims is a bribe, upon receipt of the check from the Buhas (then-owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt) he immediately tithed a portion of those proceeds to his church."

The defense argues Snyder should be acquitted of that charge or at least given a new and third trial.

It also challenges the government's claims that Snyder "betrayed the public's trust" as mayor by committing these offenses.

"There is no claim that Mr. Snyder took for his own benefit funds entrusted to the government by taxpayers," the defense says. "Nor did Mr. Snyder corrupt or distort governmental processes by doling out favors based on which company gave him political donations or money."

"The prosecution has provided no explanation for why Mr. Snyder’s case should be lumped in with news articles reciting the longest sentences it could find issued in public corruption cases," the defense memorandum says.

The defense further opposes the claim by prosecutors that Snyder obstructed justice by asking a witness to recant his statements, saying there is no perjury as long as the testimony is true.

"The prosecution has never even claimed, much less attempted to prove, that Mr. Snyder asked any witness to testify falsely," the defense argues.

A sentence that does not involve prison time is appropriate, according to the defense.

"Mr. Snyder and his family have lived for the better part of a decade under the regional glare of this prosecution," his legal team said.

Snyder said he was removed from office and has been unable to find more than part-time work to support his family over the past two years.

"The defense disagrees with the characterization of Mr. Snyder having 'enjoyed the fruits' of his conduct," the memorandum reads. "On the contrary, Mr. Snyder and his family have lived under the stress of a federal investigation and indictment for more than seven years now (several years for which he has been largely unemployable and unable to support his family)."