Witnesses tell of Cantrell's political clout
Insider was man to see at several government levels across Lake County
Post-Tribune (IN)
June 3, 2008
Witnesses called by federal prosecutors expanded the list of services available in the alleged influence-peddling case against Robert Cantrell.
A former North Township worker explained how Cantrell contacted Trustee Greg Cvitkovich to get her a job.
An East Chicago engineering contractor told of how he reached out to Cantrell to help collect a bill the city had ignored for two years, and received payment in full only days after offering to pay Cantrell $2,000 to help him collect.
Lake County Judge Jesse Villalpando took the stand and eagerly discussed how Cantrell threatened to enter candidates to run against him in the 2006 election if Villalpando didn't steer more court business to a drug counseling company Cantrell allegedly controlled.
Concluding her second day of testimony, former Cantrell business partner Nancy Fromm mentioned Cantrell's "enforcer," Gilbert Gutierrez, and Gutierrez's alleged ties to a 1992 killing in Hammond.
"(Cantrell) always told me Gil was a killer. I was about half scared of him," Fromm said in a rambling reply to a question from defense attorney Kevin Milner. "Now he's a person of interest in a murder."
"I'm not charged with anything, am I?" Milner quipped.
Gutierrez, a close friend of Cantrell's, has been named as a possible conspirator in the investigation of the death of his girlfriend, Guadalupe Hernandez.
The case against Cantrell, whose decades as a Lake County political operative have tied him to nearly every local elected official, grew more lurid Monday.
Former Schererville Town Council President Mike Troxell testified that Cantrell, former Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Stiglich and former Schererville Judge Deb Riga lobbied him to increase the court budget in exchange for letting him control court hiring. Riga was convicted of corruption charges in 2005.
A Schererville court worker testified Cantrell offered to help her find work in the courtroom of his daughter, Judge Julie Cantrell, to steer business to AFC. A former AFC employee said she saw Cantrell sitting at Fromm's desk after business hours, counting stacks of cash.
Most of the statements will do little to prove the 11 fraud and tax evasion counts against Cantrell, whom prosecutors allege violated state ethics laws by not formally disclosing his financial ties to AFC while he was working for North Township, an AFC client.
Milner tried to show that Cantrell's influence over political figures was not as great as it seemed, and that Fromm-- who faces her own charges of tax fraud and obstruction of justice -- tried to swindle and hide money from Cantrell as well as the IRS.
Death delays trial
The trial of Robert Cantrell was suspended through Thursday to allow the corruption defendant to prepare for the funeral of his mother. Nell Cantrell, 96, died Sunday at Hammond-Whiting Convalescent Home. A prayer service is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Pastrick-Oleska Funeral Home in East Chicago, with funeral services set for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. An obituary is on Page A12.
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