Former Portage mayor seeking to avoid prison in federal bribery, tax violation case
NWI Times
UPDATED Aug 12, 2021
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)."
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