Son testifies against father
Cantrell trial opens with statements, testimony on schemes
NWI Times
May 29, 2008
nwitimes.com/news/local/son-testifies-against-father/article_2f090dac-cd2d-5279-9c31-484e510a0f88.html
HAMMOND | As his father looked on, John Cantrell took the witness stand Wednesday and tried to take the blame for dreaming up ways to cash in on the legendary political connections of his dad, Robert Cantrell.
The elder Cantrell once wielded nearly as much political clout as anyone in the Lake County Democratic machine, but Wednesday marked the first day of testimony in the 66-year-old Schererville man's fight to stay out of prison.
In opening statements Wednesday, the prosecution and the defense both agreed that Robert Cantrell profited handsomely from his political connections over the years.
He used his clout to talk judges across Lake County into hiring a mental health counseling firm that was, in turn, paying him commissions often amounting to half the total profits.
The firm, Addiction and Family Care, worked for courts in East Chicago, Gary, Schererville, Lake Station, and Lake County, as well as for Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez and North Township Trustee Greg Cvitkovich.
Robert Cantrell got a cut of all those contracts -- even those whose fees came from the pockets of jail inmates ordered to attend mandatory counseling.
Defense attorney Kevin Milner said it was all legal.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Orest Szewciw described it as a betrayal of taxpayers and the public trust.
"This case is about how Robert Cantrell breached his duty to provide honest services to North Township and its citizens," Szewciw said of Cantrell's former public employer, the township.
Milner said most of the blame goes to Addiction and Family Care owner Nancy Fromm, who is expected to testify against Robert Cantrell today or Friday.
"Nancy Fromm will testify, 'While I did steal a lot of money, I gave a lot of it to Bob Cantrell,'" Milner told the jury. "There is no support for that allegation."
John Cantrell, who is also a defense attorney, said he believed he gave his father the idea to use his political connections to enrich the counseling firm and himself.
Tax records showed Fromm paid John Cantrell between 1999 and 2002. He explained he was paid as a "consultant" even though he never did any real "work" for her.
He was testifying for the government. But his admission led prosecutors into the unusual position of attempting to impeach their own witness by trying to show -- nine separate times -- that he was contradicting his grand jury testimony.
John Cantrell tried to explain that his comments were consistent, depending on whether one defined consulting as "work."
U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano said only jurors will decide whether John Cantrell had contradicted himself and ruined his credibility in their eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment