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.
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