12282017 - News Article - Mayor defends Portage SUV purchases

Mayor defends Portage SUV purchases
Chicago Tribune
December 28, 2017
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-ptb-portage-snyder-suv-st-1229-20171228-story.html

The Portage Board of Works approved the purchase of two new sports utility vehicles from a local auto dealership Wednesday, but the move fell flat for Common Council President Mark Oprisko and others at City Hall.

The board approved buying two 2018 Ford Explorers from Lakeshore Ford, in Burns Harbor, for $65,786, pending legal review by the city attorney. The move came after Oprisko used a travel policy passed by the city council in October to strip Mayor James Snyder and Economic Development Director Andy Maletta of their city-owned SUVs last month.

During the meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham, who has announced his intention to run for mayor in 2019, asked about the process city officials used in securing the quotes from Lakeshore.

According to Stidham, any quotes should've been received by city officials by Dec. 15. The Lakeshore quote had a handwritten receipt date of Dec. 12, but there was no date of receipt on a quote from Connor's Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, in Chesterton, which quoted two similar vehicles at $68,794.

Also, City Hall sources and Oprisko insisted Snyder has been using the Ford Explorer officially purchased Wednesday "for at least two weeks," and Oprisko complained Snyder has offered "zero communication" with the council on big ticket purchases, such as buying the vehicles.

Snyder called his critics' comments "senseless," and he insisted he has been using a number of city-owned vehicles and "loaner cars," including a newer model, while Ford Explorer owned by the parks department.

Snyder had leased a 2016 Chevy Tahoe for about $866 a month, while Maletta's leased 2016 Ford Expedition ran about $750 a month, officials said.

When asked if Wednesday's board purchase needed to be approved by the city council, Snyder said, "This board (of Works) purchases vehicles all the time."

Portage ends 'lavish' leases for mayor, economic develop director vehicles
NWI Times
Nov 16, 2017
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/portage-ends-lavish-leases-for-mayor-economic-develop-director-vehicles/article_b795f9bb-096d-55d9-a0e1-2256018916ec.html

PORTAGE — Mayor James Snyder and the city's economic development director are going to be downsizing the city vehicles they drive after a decision to end leases on a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe and 2016 Ford Expedition.

The Utility Services Board last week approved terminating both leases. Snyder, in an email to city officials Thursday morning, said the two vehicles are parked and ready to be picked up by the leasing company. When contacted Thursday, Snyder declined further comment.

The issue of the leased vehicles has been debated by city officials for some time, but last week at a USB meeting, Chairman Mark Oprisko motioned for Snyder to "send back" the two vehicles to the leasing company.

"The cost of the vehicles is so lavish," Oprisko said Thursday, adding he brought up the issue because "enough is enough" and the USB has been trying to get things in order since the City Council took it over in March from Snyder's leadership.

The USB has been paying $3,624 per month for the lease of the Tahoe, two Expeditions and two Ford Explorers. The Tahoe, which Snyder drove, cost $860 per month; the Expeditions were $750 per month and the Explorers $470 per month, according to city records. The second Expedition was driven by the former city administrator and the two Explorers are driven by USB superintendents.

Clerk-treasurer Chris Stidham confirmed the cars had been parked Thursday and said he has contacted the leasing company to pick them up.

Stidham said that doesn't mean Snyder and Economic Development Director Andy Maletta, who drove one of the Expeditions, won't be driving city-owned or -leased vehicles. After meeting with Snyder on Thursday afternoon, Stidham said replacement vehicles will be acquired. He is uncertain if they will be purchased or leased.

"No one is saying they shouldn't have vehicles, but they should be appropriate vehicles," said Stidham.

Stidham said the Expedition driven by the former city administrator, who resigned in February, had been sitting in the city hall parking lot until last month when the USB terminated the lease. The lease termination cost the USB about $5,000, he said, adding terminating the lease early and paying the cost was less expensive than continuing the lease. There were four years left on the leases.

12242017 - News Article - New U.S. attorney has a veteran award-winning staff of trial lawyers to go after corrupt politicians and violent street gangs

New U.S. attorney has a veteran award-winning staff of trial lawyers to go after corrupt politicians and violent street gangs
NWI Times
Updated Dec 24, 2017
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/new-u-s-attorney-has-a-veteran-award-winning-staff/article_f6f0bd39-5520-5b09-b6df-8040d15b5207.html

HAMMOND — U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch II recently acknowledged he is coming into office this year with a skilled staff of attorneys he intends to use to prosecute violent and white-collar criminals.

It's also an award-winning staff.

Kirsch said the team of assistant U.S. attorneys for the Northern District of Indiana and agents of the FBI and ATF regularly win awards from the U.S. Department of Justice as well as other federal agencies for their work on public integrity cases, crimes against children and violations involving fish and wildlife cases, national parks and other environment-related cases.

They are most celebrated for the prosecution of local chapters of violent street gangs.

Kirsch said they received a commendation from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Administration and won the Assistant Attorney General's Award of Distinguished Service for the prosecution of more than 40 individual members of the Latin Kings.

They also won the Assistant Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award for work on the Imperial Gangsters case.

Much of this work was accomplished in recent years under former U.S. Attorney David Capp, who told The Times earlier this year his office teamed up with local authorities to investigate gang-related homicides to take more than 80 members of the Latin Kings and Imperial Gangsters off the streets in the last five years.

The Latin Kings and Imperial Gangsters are criminal organizations with thousands of members across the United States and overseas.

Chicago has been a traditional power base of the Latin Kings. Their Southeast Chicago regional leadership consider Gary, Hammond and East Chicago part of their turf.

The Imperial Gangsters chapters in East Chicago engaged in murder, assault and narcotics trafficking across Northwest Indiana.

Capp stepped down in March, and President Donald Trump nominated Kirsch as his replacement in July; the U.S. Senate confirmed Kirsch in October.

Kirsch had served previously as an assistant U.S. attorney here from 2001 to 2008, focusing on white-collar crime investigations as well as the successful prosecution of numerous elected and appointed public officials.

Kirsch said an investigation into public corruption involving public towing contracts, begun under Capp, remains active under his administration.

That investigation already has resulted in the conviction of former Sheriff John Buncich, Timothy Downs, the former sheriff's second-in-command, and William Szarmach, a Lake Station towing firm owner.

A U.S. District Court jury found Buncich guilty Aug. 25 of accepting bribes from William Szarmach and an undercover FBI informant seeking lucrative county police towing assignments.

A federal grand jury last month charged former Merrillville Town Councilman Thomas Goralczyk, 51, of Merrillville, with taking a bribe from a federal police informant in exchange for a vehicle towing contract. He is scheduled to plead guilty Jan. 31.

Portage Mayor James Snyder has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial on bribery, extortion and tax evasion charges related to the towing investigation.

12222017 - News Article - Federal towing investigation in Northwest Indiana yielded conviction, new indictment in 2017

Federal towing investigation in Northwest Indiana yielded conviction, new indictment in 2017
Post-Tribune
December 22, 2017
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-federal-towing-investigation-st-1224-20171222-story.html

Former U.S. Attorney David Capp at the end of 2016 warned Northwest Indiana officials that more was coming from a federal investigation into towing.

"You know who you are and we know, currently, who some of you are," Capp said. "And we are coming after you."

The efforts of the FBI's multi-year towing investigation came to bear in 2017 with now former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich's Aug. 26 conviction and a new indictment against former Merrillville Councilman Thomas Goralcyzk, who pleaded guilty the same day the case was unsealed.

Buncich, in his second consecutive term as sheriff, resigned immediately. Buncich, 71, also held the office for two terms in the 1990s.

The U.S. Attorney's Office could not confirm or deny if the investigation was ongoing.

The FBI's investigation into potential pay-to-play towing began in 2012, according to testimony in federal court during Buncich's trial. FBI agents spoke with Scott Jurgensen, owner of Samson's Towing in Merrillville, and asked why he didn't get more towing work.

"You don't pay, you're not going to tow," Jurgensen said, during his testimony.

The investigation first looked at town officials in Merrillville and Schererville, according to testimony, but did not lead to any charges at that time.

The first charges came in late 2016 and were levelled at Buncich and Portage Mayor James Snyder.

Buncich, former Chief Timothy Downs and William Szarmach, of C.S.A. Towing, were named in a multicount indictment in November 2016 alleging a towing scheme where the sheriff accepted bribes in the form of thousands of dollars in cash and donations to his campaign fund, Buncich Boosters, according to court records.

Downs pleaded guilty in December and resigned his position at the Lake County Sheriff's Department, according to court documents. Szarmach pleaded guilty in July — a week before the trial started.

Federal prosecutors, during closing arguments, told jurors that Buncich abused his elected position to solicit bribes from tow operators, but defense attorneys say it was the FBI that paid an informant to make a crime happen.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said, during closing arguments, Buncich is heard on the recordings wanting to get the $85,000 back that he invested in his campaign and the evidence shows he sought to recover that money from tow operators.

"You now know that he was absolutely serious about getting that money back because you saw how he got it," Benson said.

Defense attorney Larry Rogers said, during closing arguments, the sheriff had a stellar reputation among law enforcement and the community until the government began its investigation.

"The government has systematically set out to paint the sheriff as a bad person," Rogers said.

Snyder and John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, were charged in November 2016 with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from Cortina and "Individual A" and gave them a towing contract for Portage.

Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for allegedly accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works Contract, and allegedly obstructing internal revenue laws.

Snyder pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents, and is tentatively scheduled for a January trial. Attorneys for Snyder and Cortina have asked the court to move the trial to June, according to court documents, but a judge has not ruled on the request.

Snyder will have a new attorney on his team. Thomas Kirsch, who was nominated to be the new U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, stepped aside from the Snyder case when he was confirmed by the Senate in October.

In the wake of the Buncich conviction, the U.S. Attorney's Office indicted Goralczyk in November saying he accepted two vehicles and other items from "Individual A" to help secure a Merrillville towing contract.

The charges allege that Goralczyk "did knowingly and corruptly solicit demand, accept and agree to accept" a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee; a 2008 Ford Focus; four new camper tires; and free storage for a motorcycle from "Individual A" in return for a towing contract from Merrillville, according to court documents.

Goralczyk allegedly presented false bills of sale to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles for the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which he obtained for $400 though the value was in excess of $2,500, and for the Ford Focus, which he accepted for free though it was valued in excess of $5,000, according the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"I obtained both of these vehicles for my own personal gain, in exchange for my promise to engage in official conduct by using my influence and power as a Merrillville town councilman to obtain a Town of Merrillville towing contract for the FBI 'cooperating individual's' towing company," Goralczyk said, in the plea agreement.

Sentencings for Buncich and Goralczyk are scheduled for January, according to court documents.

12112017 - News Article - Trial to start for ex-officer in death of children's mother

Also See:

11182015 - Tiara Thomas OIDV Murder, Portage Indiana - Gary/Hammond Indiana Police Officer Kevin Campbell Charged With Murder

Trial to start for ex-officer in death of children's mother
NWI Times
Dec 11, 2017
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/indiana/trial-to-start-for-ex-officer-in-death-of-children/article_5ada04db-78d2-511f-b838-e5dfa774e543.html
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — A jury trial for a former Hammond and Gary police officer charged in the death of the mother of three of his children is scheduled to start next month.

The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports that the Jan. 9 trial date was confirmed at a hearing Monday for 33-year-old Kevin Campbell.

Tiara Thomas was found bleeding in November 2015 inside her Portage apartment and later died at a hospital.

Authorities have said phone records indicated Campbell and the 30-year-old Thomas argued over nearly $1,500 in child support he paid and that creditors were calling him.

Police also found numerous voicemails from creditors on Campbell's cellphone, and he had a bank account balance of $7.58 when Thomas died.

Campbell was fired by the Hammond Police Department days after Thomas' body was discovered.

12112017 - News Article - Former Hammond and Gary police officer accused of murdering the mother of his children will face a jury

Also See:

11182015 - Tiara Thomas OIDV Murder, Portage Indiana - Gary/Hammond Indiana Police Officer Kevin Campbell Charged With Murder

Former Hammond and Gary police officer accused of murdering the mother of his children will face a jury
NWI Times
December 11, 2017
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/former-hammond-and-gary-police-officer-accused-of-murdering-the/article_2b541a57-f254-5ca7-8c93-46bb71494bf3.html

VALPARAISO — A former Hammond and Gary police officer accused of murdering the mother of his children will face a jury beginning Jan. 9.

Kevin Campbell, 33, was brought over from jail to the courthouse Monday morning for a short hearing, during which time his trial date was confirmed by Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford.

Bradford said he is setting aside four weeks for the murder trial, which is a lengthy period for that type of case.

Campbell is charged with killing Tiara Thomas, 30, who was found covered in blood about 7:30 a.m. Nov. 18, 2015, in her unit at Park Place Apartments, 5970 Old Porter Road in Portage. She died later at the hospital.

Police believe Campbell shot Thomas sometime between 4:37 and 5:55 a.m., then took their three children to school.

Court documents indicate Campbell kept the three children overnight at his home in Hobart the night before Thomas was killed. It also alleges Campbell requested his oldest child bring him a key to the apartment nearly two weeks before the homicide.

The documents point to arguments over child support and other money-related matters as a motive.

12012017 - News Article - FBI: Region should not tolerate any amount of public corruption

FBI: Region should not tolerate any amount of public corruption
NWI Times
Updated Dec 1, 2017
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/fbi-region-should-not-tolerate-any-amount-of-public-corruption/article_bfdef6fd-f5ab-5b04-b912-26b91a857ac1.html

HAMMOND — Public corruption undermines the fabric of American society and is among the FBI's highest priorities, said W. Jay Abbott, the FBI's special agent in charge for Indiana.

Abbott made the comments during a forum Thursday about the FBI's role in Northwest Indiana.

Nearly 50 local politicians have been sent to prison in the past decade, according to a slide presented by Bill Rowell, supervisory special agent for the white collar crime and public corruption unit at the FBI's Merrillville office.

As he stood before a slide showing news stories and photographs of public officials, Rowell said the Region's history shocked him when he arrived here six years ago.

"The extent of the public corruption, how long it had been going on, how in-depth it was," Rowell said. "And how it seemed like over a 40-, 50-, 60-year period, as I look back over the history of things, the same things were being done over and over and over again."

Under his watch, a public corruption task force that includes other federal agencies, state agencies and the federal prosecutor's office was established, he said.

'Nothing was accidental'
"Every single one of these people — none of them just slightly stepped over a line. None of them were in a gray area, none of them made a mistake, nothing was accidental," Rowell said.

Each convicted official "did everything they could ... to put money in their pocket," he said.

Rowell said residents should do more to hold other politicians who support their convicted colleagues accountable.

"I've noticed in some of these cases that happened before I got here, after there was a grand jury that indicted the politician, and after they went through a trial in the courthouse up in Hammond and different juries convicted them, and after they were sentenced by a judge — no question at all about what they did — there were still other politicians in the area who were bold enough to support the convicted politicians in spite of the wrong that had been done, in spite of the broken public trust," he said.

Sitting politicians may try to argue that everyone does it, that it's always been done or that it's just how it is, Rowell said.

"There's thousands of excuses. None of them fly, and the more that the citizens of Lake County — or whatever county this happens in — the more those citizens hold those politicians' feet to the fire, whether they've already been convicted or there are other sitting politicians who are supporting these guys, the more their feet are held to the fire, I think the more it's going to push things in the direction that all the citizens want this community to go."

When asked about payments to an informant who testified against former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, agents said they were worth it.

"Any amount of money could almost be justified if there is a citizen that is willing to work with us to expose that type of corruption," Abbot said. "Public corruption is the highest criminal priority that the FBI has, and there's a reason for that."

Rowell said the informant — a police-officer-turned-tow-truck driver — came forward because he couldn't believe the blatant public corruption he was seeing.

Evidence at trial is that the FBI paid Scott Jurgensen $130,000 over a five-year period, and his testimony has resulted in multiple indictments.

"What you hear at trial is the tip of the iceberg," Rowell said.

Prosecutors decide before trial which charges to press, but they typically have much more information they can present at sentencing, he said.

"It's called relevant conduct," he said.

FBI has many roles in the Region
The FBI investigates about 350 types of crimes in Indiana, Abbott said.

Chris Ormerod, supervisory special agent for the Merrillville office's new counter-terrorism unit, was on the job just two weeks when a pipe bomb exploded Sept. 6 at the East Chicago post office, injuring a pregnant postal worker.

"Most people don't know that this is domestic terrorism," Ormerod said. "It is."

The bomb likely caused others to fear what might be in their mail, he said.

Bob Ramsey, special supervisory agent for the Merrillville office's violent crimes unit, offered an overview of four racketeering and gang cases his unit has investigated in recent years.

More than 100 indictments have been handed down in four separate cases against the Latin Kings, Imperial Gangsters and Two Six Nation street gangs, Ramsey said.

When asked if breaking up gangs could cause more violence, as smaller groups vie for power, Abbott said the FBI has taken notice of the issue and is working to develop strategies to address it.

Ramsey said Gary city officials have seen some success with the Gary for Life initiative, which integrates law enforcement efforts with a range of other programs to offer assistance and address community issues.