Investigators seek Cantrell records
A.G., State Police want to know where Cantrell lived during 2003 EC primary
NWI Times
Nov 10, 2006
nwitimes.com/news/local/investigators-seek-cantrell-records/article_83801b8a-7217-5c95-8dd8-8e9e02b367fa.html
The far-reaching investigation into vote fraud in the 2003 East Chicago mayoral primary has come to Robert Cantrell's doorstep.
As part of the continuing probe into that infamously flawed election, the Indiana Attorney General's Office last month requested all information from the North Township Trustee's office regarding where Cantrell lived in 2002, 2003 and 2004, according to a letter obtained by The Times.
The Oct. 11, 2006, letter, which is addressed to North Township attorney Kevin Smith and sent by the state attorney general, seeks all documentation showing where Cantrell lived, including emergency contact information, W2 and 1099 tax forms, employment applications and all correspondence mailed to Cantrell's home.
Neither Smith nor Township Trustee Frank Mrvan returned calls for comment regarding the letter Thursday. Attorney General spokeswoman Staci Schneider declined to comment.
The letter -- which is not a formal subpoena -- states that detectives are seeking the information on Cantrell "in connection with our investigation" into vote fraud in the 2003 city mayoral primary.
Indiana State Police investigator Al Williamson declined to comment on the request for information pertaining to Cantrell.
"This is a very sensitive investigation, and this information should not have gotten out," Williamson said of the letter. "We'll have to do an investigation as to how that got out."
Cantrell was manager of the township's East Chicago poor-relief office until this fall, when he left there and began teaching an introductory American history class at Purdue University Calumet.
Although Cantrell had been the on-again, off-again chairman of the East Chicago Republican Party, he was living and voting in Schererville during those years, Lake County voting records show.
Cantrell's listed address in county voting records is 5011 Gull Drive in Schererville, where he voted in the Republican primary in 2003. Cantrell is co-owner of the house at 4306 Ivy St. in East Chicago but is not registered to vote there.
Cantrell said Thursday he was aware of the probe but declined to comment on the investigation or say whether he voted in the East Chicago election. His attorney, son John Cantrell, could not be reached for comment.
"I was aware of that. That's no problem," Robert Cantrell said Thursday after being told of the request.
The 2003 East Chicago mayoral primary was overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court after lower courts concluded that a sweeping pattern of fraud pervaded the balloting. In the 2004 do-over special election, eight-term incumbent mayor Robert Pastrick was defeated by Democratic challenger George Pabey, who went on to win the general election and become mayor.
But a joint public-corruption task force of officials from the Attorney General's Office, the Indiana State Police and the Lake County Prosecutor's Office is investigating vote-fraud allegations that came to light in the litigation that overturned the 2003 election.
So far, 53 people have been charged with various violations of absentee balloting in the 2003 East Chicago primary, many on accusations they voted where they didn't live or signed or fraudulently delivered other people's absentee ballots.
Nine people have pleaded guilty.
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