Riga takes the stand against Cantrell
NWI Times
Jun 5, 2008
nwitimes.com/news/local/riga-takes-the-stand-against-cantrell/article_74a46f08-8e23-501b-b929-8339709e517e.html
HAMMOND | Disgraced former judge Deb Riga said Robert Cantrell was not shy about using cash payments to hide transactions.
Riga served one term as elected judge of Schererville Town Court, but pleaded guilty to several unrelated felonies involving her corrupting her office to enrich herself. She has been awaiting sentencing for two years, as Cantrell's trial date slowly drew near.
In 2003, when the Indiana State Police raided the offices of Addiction and Family Care Inc. (AFC) in search of evidence, Riga said Cantrell made her feel guilty because her father, AFC consultant Tony Riga, had insisted on being paid by check and not cash.
"I felt bad because the gist of it (her conversation with Cantrell after the raid) was, had I done it in cash the way it was proposed, there wouldn't be a trail," Riga testified Thursday morning. "This wouldn't be happening."
Defense attorney Kevin Milner hit Riga with scathing questions about whether she had "sold your robe, your judgeship, for money."
"You spent very few honest days as a judge, correct?" Milner asked.
"The things you are looking at happened over various days. I'd have to answer 'No' to your question," Riga said.
Milner implied that Riga had been repeatedly requesting delays of her sentencing date so that she could give the feds dirt and decrease her sentence. She denied it.
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