Former Portage mayor asks Supreme Court to hear his appeal
NWI Times
Aug 12, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Convicted former Portage Mayor James Snyder is asking the Supreme Court to hear his appeal before he is required to begin his prison term this fall.
In a 36-page petition for a writ of certiorari, which is a request for the Supreme Court to hear a case, Snyder's lawyers challenge the federal statute under which he was convicted that prohibits a public official from accepting a bribe. His attorneys write that the each of the twelve United States federal circuit courts interpret the law differently, and therefore request an assessment from the nation's highest court.
The petition was filed Aug. 1, according to court records. The Supreme Court is required to respond by Sept. 5.
The petition comes after U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Matthew Kennelly denied a request July 14 for Snyder, 45, to have his case reheard en banc, meaning his case would be heard before all the court's judges. Snyder's attorneys filed the petition on June 29 after he was denied an appeal on June 15.
Kennelly previously ordered Snyder to surrender himself Oct. 16 to begin serving a 21-month prison term. Federal prosecutors initially requested Snyder turn himself in the week after his appeal was denied, but Kennelly struck down the request. Since the court denied his motion, he will likely still be required to begin his prison sentence in October.
In the appeal argued before the Seventh Circuit appeals court in January, attorneys said court should vacate Snyder's convictions because of an alleged government intrusion into the attorney-client relationship as it pertains to the seizure of Snyder's personal and professional email accounts as part of the criminal investigation. Judges determined that none of Snyder’s Fourth and Sixth Amendment rights were violated during the course of the investigation into his conduct.
Snyder was first convicted in February 2019. When his attorneys moved for a judgment of acquittal or a new trial, the district court denied the motion for acquittal but granted Snyder a new trial on the bribery charge. He was convicted for a second time in March 2021 for charges of corrupt solicitation and interfering with the Internal Revenue Service. He accepted a $13,000 bribe in 2014 in return for steering a $1.125 million contract for the purchase of garbage trucks for the city of Portage to the local Great Lakes Peterbilt company and dodged the IRS when they tried to collect his unpaid taxes from his mortgage company.
When reached by phone Saturday evening, Snyder deferred to his attorneys for comment. His attorneys were not immediately available.
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