New indictments looming; corruption is likely target - Announcement has not said if local officials are involved in federal probe
Post-Tribune (IN)
March 21, 2007
U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen plans to announce a new round of indictments in his ongoing Operation Restore Public Integrity probe of public corruption in Northwest Indiana.
Van Bokkelen's office will make its announcement at 1 p.m. today at the federal courthouse in Hammond.
Restore Public Integrity indictees have included former Gary Clerk and U.S. Rep Katie Hall and her daughter, Junifer, who were convicted on mail fraud charges in 2003, and former Lake County Auditor Peter Benjamin, who was convicted of mail fraud and racketeering later that year.
Recently, prosecutors have indicted Lake County Councilman Will Smith and political insiders Willie Harris and Roosevelt Powell in connection with an alleged land deal in Gary.
Van Bokkelen's news releases seldom hint at the nature of the charges, but few of the news conferences he has hosted since taking office in 2001 have focused on anything but public corruption.
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