03162007 - News Article - Fromm pleads guilty to federal felonies - FROMM -- Head of counseling firm agrees to aid in other investigations - ROBERT CANTRELL

Fromm pleads guilty to federal felonies
FROMM -- Head of counseling firm agrees to aid in other investigations
NWI Times
Mar 16, 2007
nwitimes.com/news/local/fromm-pleads-guilty-to-federal-felonies/article_8cf8c89a-0a84-55f6-b45e-c8db3967fba2
HAMMOND | Nancy Fromm, whose addiction counseling firm has done business with courts all across Lake County, pleaded guilty Thursday to two federal felonies.

In a plea agreement, Fromm admitted to illegally hiding her business profits from a grand jury and then under-reporting her personal income in 2003. The plea sets the stage for Fromm to cooperate with other federal investigations into alleged public corruption.

Fromm faces up to 13 years in federal prison when she is sentenced in June, although prosecutors agreed to recommend a more lenient sentence in exchange for her cooperation with a continuing investigation.

Fromm's Hammond business, Addiction and Family Care, received a subpoena in July 2005 from a federal grand jury investigating allegations that businesses were paying kickbacks in exchange for government contracts.

Fromm, a politically connected Democrat, has given thousands in political donations over the years and has received business referrals from many of the judicial candidates whose campaigns she supported.

Investigators said Fromm admitted to being extorted for kickbacks by former Schererville Town Court Judge Deb Riga, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud last year and also is cooperating with investigators to receive a shorter sentence.

Fromm also employed political figure Robert Cantrell to use his connections in government to generate more business for Fromm's firm, authorities said.

Cantrell has not been charged with a crime and has insisted the fees he collected from Fromm were legitimate.

Fromm was never charged with taking part in a pay-to-play scheme. U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen has called her a "victim" in the Riga scheme.

But she admitted to U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano on Thursday that she deliberately withheld from the grand jury more than 10,000 "client cards" that showed exactly how much money her firm was earning from its clients.

She was indicted for obstruction of justice one year ago. A charge of tax evasion was added Wednesday, the night before she pleaded guilty to it. She said in court Thursday her personal income was higher than the $35,000 she reported.

"I deliberately withheld the client cards because I knew they would show more income than I reported," Fromm told Lozano Thursday.

Fromm, is the sole owner of Addiction and Family Care. She has said the indictment severely damaged her 10-year-old business, which gets many of its clients through court orders for counseling.