09282018 - News Article - Court filings continue to flow days before Portage mayor's corruption trial scheduled to begin

Court filings continue to flow days before Portage mayor's corruption trial scheduled to begin
News-Press Now
September 28, 2018
http://www.newspressnow.com/news/national/court-filings-continue-to-flow-days-before-portage-mayor-s/article_76620370-2cf0-5cc0-ae62-7cb92452e99d.html

HAMMOND — With less than two weeks before Portage Mayor James Snyder's public corruption trial is scheduled to begin, both sides continue to file motions and responses in the case, working to meet deadlines set by the court.

Snyder, who was indicted on charges of bribery and tax evasion in November 2016, is scheduled to go on trial with co-defendant John Cortina, of Portage, on Oct. 9.

In a court filing late Tuesday, federal prosecutors said a recent motion filed by Snyder's attorneys to dismiss two of the three charges "seeks to lead this court down a rabbit hole."

Last week, Snyder's attorney Jackie M. Bennett, of Indianapolis, filed a motion to dismiss the two bribery charges, saying evidence presented by federal prosecutors during discovery fails to establish a crime.

Federal prosecutors also answered a motion filed by Bennett last week asking certain testimony or evidence be excluded from the trial, including recordings in which Cortina allegedly uses "vulgar language," Snyder's wife's employment, his mortgage company, evidence involving other city employees, disputed email materials and how Snyder has paid his attorney's fees.

Prosecutors agreed to some of the issues, such as his wife's employment record. They also agreed to not introduce evidence about Snyder's "improper attempt to have the citizens of Portage pay his attorney's fees," a reference to Snyder's attempt to pay a combined $93,000 from the city's utility department funds to two of his defense attorneys. But federal prosecutors disputed other items.

Prosecutors also pointed out the issue regarding the disputed emails and Snyder's claim that his Sixth Amendment rights to a fair trial have been violated has not been ruled upon by the court. Snyder claims the taint team process, which filters emails, failed, allowing prosecutors to view emails he believes are attorney/client privilege.

Bennett filed two additional documents Wednesday, saying they intend to reply to the prosecutors' response within 48 hours.

09282018 - News Article - Tow operater asks for continuance in October trial with Portage mayor

Tow operater asks for continuance in October trial with Portage mayor
Chicago Tribune
September 28, 2018
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-cortina-snyder-trial-st-0929-story.html

A tow operator is asking to either have his trial separated from Portage Mayor James Snyder’s or to have both of their dates pushed back again.

John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, and Snyder are currently set to begin their jury trial on Oct. 9 in Hammond’s federal court.

Cortina, 79, and his attorney, Kevin Milner, filed a motion Friday asking for a continuance.

The motion cites a medical procedure that has been scheduled Oct. 16 for one of Milner’s family members.

“Efforts to schedule the surgery at an earlier date were curtailed by issues regarding insurance coverage,” the document said.

The government and Milner “agree that the trial is likely to extend past” Oct. 16, according to the motion.

Cortina and Snyder were charged in November 2016 with violating a federal bribery statute. Federal prosecutors said the mayor solicited money from Cortina and "Individual A" and gave them a towing contract for Portage.

Snyder also was indicted for allegedly accepting $13,000 in connection with a Portage Board of Works contract and for allegedly obstructing IRS laws.

Snyder and Cortina have pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.

Cortina “does not wish to inconvenience the court, the government or defendant Snyder,” so Milner “is requesting that either his case be severed from defendant Snyder’s and continued for trial or that both defendants remained joined with the trial, again, being continued,” according to the motion.

Snyder’s and his attorney’s positions on the continuance or whether to separate their trials “has not been learned,” the motion states.

A ruling on Milner’s request had not been made as of Friday afternoon, court records show.

The trial was initially scheduled to begin in January 2017. It was pushed back to give attorneys time to go over the evidence and to file their motions.

Snyder requested one continuance after he hired a new attorney, Jackie Bennett Jr., of Taft Stettinius and Hollister in Indianapolis, when his previous attorney Thomas Kirsch II was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana.

Snyder asked for the continuance to October partly due to issues over emails obtained by the government that the defense argued were privileged.

On Thursday, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen denied Snyder’s motion to dismiss the indictment or to disqualify the government’s trial team over the emails. But the judge said that one exhibit containing emails with financial records could not be used, according to the order.

09272018 - News Article - Federal judge rules against Portage mayor over email, 'taint team' issue

Federal judge rules against Portage mayor over email, 'taint team' issue
NWI Times
September 27, 2018
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/federal-judge-rules-against-portage-mayor-over-email-taint-team/article_592db4ca-fc0d-5485-9ccb-4dd1653ee600.html

HAMMOND — U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen has ruled against Portage Mayor James Snyder over Snyder's claim that emails protected by the attorney-client privilege were viewed by prosecutors and thus harmed his chance to get a fair trial.

Van Bokkelen also ruled against Snyder's claim that the process to review such privileged emails was faulty.

Snyder contended in May that emails protected by attorney-client privilege got through a three-tiered taint team, and were viewed by prosecutors. A taint team is a review process created to ensure that privileged emails are not seen by prosecutors.

That claim led to several hearings, held mostly behind closed doors, where emails were reviewed and the review process was scrutinized.

Snyder was indicted in November 2016 on three counts, including bribery and tax evasion. His trial is set for Oct. 9.

Earlier this year, Snyder's defense attorney, Jackie Bennett, of Indianapolis, filed a motion seeking either to have Snyder's indictment dismissed, or to have the federal prosecutors disqualified due to what Snyder claimed was a violation of his Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to a fair trial.

In Thursday's ruling, Van Bokkelen wrote that only one of more than 40 emails involved in Snyder's claim will be excluded from being entered as evidence at his trial. That email was between Snyder and his then-attorney, Thomas Kirsch, who now is the chief federal prosecutor.

Kirsch removed himself as Snyder's defense attorney when he was appointed to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana earlier this year. Kirsch recused himself from the case but was called in May to testify during a closed hearing on the issue.

Bennett told The Times on Thursday, "Mr. Snyder has been anxious to go to trial for two years, to address the false charges against him and to clear his good name. We look forward to doing so beginning Oct. 9."

Van Bokkelen ruled that two other emails, while considered privileged, did not cause Snyder to "suffer prejudice from the trial team" seeing them because prosecutors already had received information on their content before seeing the emails.

In all other instances of the emails in question, Van Bokkelen ruled they were not privileged for various reasons, including that they had included third parties or did not involve legal advice.

"Through it all, what has become clear is that, with the exception of emails containing QuickBooks data, the government trial team is not in possession of privileged materials and that the privileged financial data has not unduly prejudiced Mr. Snyder," Van Bokkelen wrote in his 18-page ruling.

"Thus, while the Court finds no fault with the taint team process, even if the process had been faulty as Mr. Snyder argues, no error has been introduced that would necessitate either dismissal of this case or recusal of the trial team," Van Bokkelen wrote.

09272018 - News Article - Judge rules Portage mayor's bribery case can proceed, despite privileged information in emails

Judge rules Portage mayor's bribery case can proceed, despite privileged information in emails
Chicago Tribune
September 27, 2018
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-email-ruling-st-0928-story.html

A few of Portage Mayor James Snyder’s emails contained privileged information, but a federal judge said Thursday that his federal bribery case can proceed to trial Oct. 9.

Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen issued his ruling over questions about prosecutors use of emails obtained from Snyder’s email account at his upcoming trial.

In his order, Van Bokkelen denied Snyder’s motion to dismiss the indictment or to disqualify the government’s trial team. But the judge said that one exhibit containing emails with financial records could not be used, according to the order.

“The court finds that as carried out in this case, the filter process worked sufficiently, even if the process itself has inherent flaws,” Van Bokkelen said, adding it had “semblance of the fox guarding the hen house.”

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

Snyder also was indicted for allegedly accepting $13,000 in connection with a Portage Board of Works contract and for allegedly obstructing IRS laws.

Snyder and Cortina have pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.

Leading up to trial, attorneys filed a series of briefs and discussed emails in the case in in closed-door hearings.

The defense argued that the emails seized in 2015 were put through a faulty screening process, and that the trial team accessed and used privileged communications, court records show.

Prosecutors said Snyder has not presented any evidence that shows his email communications were used in an improper way during the investigation, according to court records.

“Through it all, what has become clear is that, with the exception emails containing QuickBooks data, the government trial team is not in possession of privileged materials and that the privileged financial data has not unduly prejudiced Mr. Snyder,” the order states.

Before he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Thomas Kirsch II, was Snyder’s defense attorney. Kirsch previously “directed Mr. Snyder to generate QuickBooks financial records for various entities associated with Mr. Snyder because his financial records were in disarray,” the order states.

Kirsch has recused himself from handling the Snyder case, according to court documents, and it is now being managed by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Snyder used Intuit online software to email himself the records, which contained financial data in the body of the emails, according to the order. Snyder would forward these to his attorneys, the order states.

“The emails from Intuit to Snyder (generated by Snyder) slipped through the government’s filter process, and the government now cedes that those documents should not have been made available to the prosecution team because they constitute attorney work-product,” the order states. “However, the same data that was forwarded to the attorneys was quarantined.”

While Snyder “suffered some prejudice in that the disorganized financial data may have been more difficult for the government to analyze,” Kirsch had made some of this information to the government, the order states. This information “is factual in nature and does not reflect Kirsch’s legal opinions or strategies,” according to the order.

Van Bokkelen said, though, that the government “is not precluded from using the information it received from Kirsch even if that information is identical” to set of QuickBooks documents that the judge ruled on.

Van Bokkelen went over summaries of the emails in question in his order. The judge decided that “only three sets of documents contain privileged materials that the government’s trial team has in its possession,” including the QuickBooks documents.

The other two items, while privileged, did not cause Snyder to “suffer prejudice from the trial team obtaining” them, the order states.

Both of those items were between Snyder and a personal attorney over drafts for a consulting agreement sent to Snyder’s City of Portage email account, according to the order. Van Bokkelen said these emails contained legal advice, which made them privileged, the order states.

“In both instances, the government had obtained the agreements long before the emails were seized” and receiving the same document later did lead to “no new revelations,” according to the order.

The government had a three-tiered process to sift through the emails, narrowing down 8,600 that were quarantined to some 300 deemed privileged and that were made not available to the prosecution team, according to the order.

The QuickBooks files and the emails with the personal attorney were “missed,” the order states.

While “the court agrees with Mr. Snyder that the government could have cooperated with Kirsch to the filter out privileged communications, at least in the last stage of the review” the judge said “it was not legally required.

“To be sure, there’s nothing to suggest that the agents involved in the case improperly handled Mr. Snyder’s emails or that the agent in charge of peeking behind the curtain of the privilege. However, any process that leaves government agents unchecked is problematic,” the order states.

Van Bokkelen began his order with a Bible verse.

“Writing to Corinthians, Apostle Paul cautioned: ‘“Everything is lawful,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything builds up,’” the order states.

Van Bokkelen added, “What the government did, it could do: the law is in its favor, even if the prudence of its actions can be questioned.”

09242018 - News Article - Local FOP Treasurer Alleged to Have Embezzled $180K - Officer Larry LaFlower

Local FOP Treasurer Alleged to Have Embezzled $180K
Inside Indiana Business
September 24, 2018
http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/39161865/local-fop-treasurer-alleged-to-have-embezzled-180k

HAMMOND - A former police officer in Porter County is facing wire fraud charges. The office of U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch says Lawrence LaFlower is alleged to have embezzled more than $180,000 from the Fraternal Order of Police Ewalt Jahnz Lodge #165. LaFlower had served as treasurer for the local organization and court documents suggest the suspected crime took place over the last five years.

Kirsch says "public officials who abuse their positions for personal financial gain will not be tolerated.  My office, with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who corrupt their office for self-serving motives."

LaFlower's formal plea is expected to be entered later this week. If convicted, LaFlower faces a yet-to-be determined sentence from a federal judge. The FBI and the Indiana State Police investigated the alleged wire fraud.

09242018 - News Article - Ex-Porter County officer charged with wire fraud - Officer Larry LaFlower

Ex-Porter County officer charged with wire fraud
Post Tribune
September 24, 2018
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-laflower-wire-fraud-st-0925-story.html#

A former Porter County sheriff’s officer is accused of embezzling more than $180,000 from a police organization, court records show.

Lawrence W. LaFlower, 42, of Valparaiso, was charged with one count of wire fraud, according to a release Monday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana.

“Public officials who abuse their positions for personal financial gain will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch II said in the release. “My office, with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who corrupt their office for self-serving motives."

LaFlower entered into a plea agreement with the government and is expected to formally plead guilty in court later this week, the release states.

Between April 2013 and April 2018, LaFlower used his position as the treasurer of the Fraternal Order of Police Ewalt Jahnz Lodge No. 165 to embezzle more than $180,000 from its investment and bank accounts, court records show.

LaFlower was also a lieutenant and public information officer with the sheriff’s office. He resigned in May.

LaFlower’s case was not publicly available in court records Monday afternoon.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Indiana State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abizer Zanzi.

09242018 - News Article - Former Porter County cop charged with embezzling over $180,000 from FOP lodge - Officer Larry LaFlower

Former Porter County cop charged with embezzling over $180,000 from FOP lodge
NWI Times
September 24, 2018
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-porter-county-cop-charged-with-embezzling-over-from-fop/article_9902e501-8651-53cf-ab05-552ee7767e69.html

HAMMOND — A former Porter County Sheriff's Department lieutenant has been accused in federal court of embezzling over $180,000 from a local Fraternal Order of Police lodge.

Lawrence W. LaFlower, 42, of Valparaiso, was charged with one count of wire fraud and has entered into a plea agreement with the government. He is expected to formally enter his plea of guilty in court later this week, according to a news release from U.S. attorney's office.

LaFlower, who also served for a time as the department's public information officer, resigned from the Sheriff's Department in May.

According to court documents, LaFlower was also the treasurer of the Ewalt Jahnz Lodge No. 165, an organization which works to improve working conditions for officers and raises money for scholarships and other programs. 

LaFlower allegedly embezzled more than $180,000 from the FOP between April 5, 2013, and April 28, 2018.

The FOP lodge maintained two checking accounts. LaFlower allegedly wrote approximately 31 checks from one of the accounts to himself without authorization and without approval from the FOP's executive board, according to documents.

On April 2, 2018, LaFlower wrote a check for $1,500 from one of the accounts and deposited it in a personal account, which caused a wire transmission of funds that was routed through the Federal Bank in Atlanta.

The documents also alleged that about 85 times between the 2013 and 2018 dates, LaFlower made cash withdrawals from one of the accounts and had transferred over $150,000 from one FOP-owned account to another with the "intention of withdrawing those funds for personal use."

LaFlower also allegedly lied to the FOP's board and altered and created fictitious bank and investment account statements to cover up the fraudulent transactions, according to court records. He is also accused of failing to file the FOP's federal tax returns.

"Public officials who abuse their positions for personal financial gain will not be tolerated. My office, with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who corrupt their office for self-serving motives," said U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch in the news release.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Indiana State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Abizer Zanzi.

09242018 - News Article - Former Porter County Officer Charged with Wire Fraud - Officer Larry LaFlower

Former Porter County Officer Charged with Wire Fraud
United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Indiana
September 24, 2018
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndin/pr/former-porter-county-officer-charged-wire-fraud
HAMMOND – Lawrence W. LaFlower, 42 years old, of Valparaiso, Indiana, has been charged with one count of wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.

US Attorney Kirsch said, "Public officials who abuse their positions for personal financial gain will not be tolerated.  My Office, with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those who corrupt their office for self-serving motives."

According to court documents, between April 2013 and April 2018, LaFlower used his position as the treasurer of the Fraternal Order of Police Ewalt Jahnz Lodge #165’s to embezzle over $180,000 from its investment and bank accounts. The FOP is a fraternal organization in Porter County, Indiana, whose mission is to improve working conditions for law enforcement officers and serve the public by raising money for scholarships and other programs.

LaFlower has entered into a plea agreement with the government and is expected to formally enter his plea of guilty in court later this week. 

The United States Attorney's Office emphasized that an Information is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty in court.

If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

This case was investigated by the FBI and Indiana State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Abizer Zanzi.

09212018 - News Article - Indicted Portage mayor says feds' use of confidential source ‘tantamount to cheating’

Indicted Portage mayor says feds' use of confidential source ‘tantamount to cheating’
Chicago Tribune
September 21, 2018
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-pre-trial-motions-st-0922-story.html

Attorneys for indicted Portage Mayor James Snyder say federal investigators used a confidential source for the purpose of “invading the defense camp.”

In a brief filed Friday, Jackie Bennett Jr., one of Snyder’s defense attorneys, said that investigators got information from a confidential source who reportedly knew about discussions between the Portage mayor and his attorneys, showing that the defense wouldn’t be ready for a January 2017 trial. Bennett said federal investigators used that information to continue their investigation, and want a judge to limit their ability to use any information they obtained after January 2017.

“The government, post indictment, permitted an informant to inquire as to Snyder’s legal strategy and legal advice, there by invading the defense camp,” Bennett said. “Thereafter the government made use of the improperly obtained strategic information.”

“To be blunt, this is tantamount to cheating,” Bennett added.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not filed a response to Snyder’s motion and does not comment on pending cases.

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 alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Portage Board of Works contract, and allegedly obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws.

Snyder and Cortina have both pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.

The trial is set to start Oct. 9.

The motion included a confidential human source report from the FBI where the person reported that Thomas Kirsch II, Snyder’s former defense attorney who is now the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, suggested the mayor hire another attorney in order to ready for a January 2017 trial.

The report documents what the FBI was told by the confidential source on Dec. 6, 2016, less than a month after Snyder and Cortina were indicted.

Kirsch has recused himself from handling the Snyder case, according to court documents, and it is now being managed by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

“The government’s knowledge that Mr. Kirsch suggested Snyder may need to consider hiring another lawyer was obviously a benefit to the government, as it let them know they had additional time to investigate their case, which they have continued to do post January 2017,” Bennett said.

Bennett said investigators’ use of the confidential source to learn about the defense bolsters arguments that charges against Snyder should be dismissed or federal prosecutors removed from the case for mishandling reportedly attorney-client privileged emails.

Snyder’s defense attorneys say the charges should be dismissed or trial attorney disqualified if those email communications were accessed. Defense attorneys have argued that emails seized in 2015 were put through a faulty screening process, according to court documents, and the trial team accessed and used privileged communications.

Federal prosecutors say Snyder has not presented any evidence that shows his emails communications were used in any improper way during the investigation, according to court documents, and that a judge should not disqualify the prosecutors on the case or dismiss any charges against the Portage mayor.

Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen has not ruled on the request to dismiss or disqualify the trial team.

The motion to suppress the information gained from the confidential human source was one of a series of motions Snyder’s defense team filed Friday.

09142018 - News Article - Portage mayor's federal public corruption trial to move forward Oct. 9

Portage mayor's federal public corruption trial to move forward Oct. 9
NWI Times
September 14, 2018
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/portage-mayor-s-federal-public-corruption-trial-to-move-forward/article_e79a9172-ec19-5930-9fc2-e6ec6820e214.html

HAMMOND — Barring any unforeseen circumstances the federal public corruption trial of Portage Mayor James Snyder will begin at 10 a.m. Oct. 9.

During a less than 30 minute final pre-trial conference in U.S District Court Friday morning, Snyder's attorney, as well as that of his co-defendant John Cortina and federal prosecutors agreed they are ready to begin the trial.

Snyder was indicted in November 2016 on charges of felony bribery, extortion and tax dodging counts. He has pleaded not guilty. Cortina, a Portage towing company owner, was charged with one count of bribery, alleging he gave Snyder $12,000 to be put on the city's tow list. 

The conference was held by Magistrate Judge John Martin.

Martin quickly went through a laundry list of details, from producing witness lists to final discovery, and set deadlines for both sides to file any additional materials or motions in the case.

The two sides must put together a list of agreed upon questions for prospective jurors, jury instructions and witness lists prior to the trial.

Martin set an Oct. 1 deadline for a possible plea agreement.

"That deadline won't matter," said U.S. Assistant Attorney Phil Benson.

The possible wrench in the case, however, is that U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen has not ruled on whether Snyder's Sixth Amendment rights had been violated over the possibility federal prosecutors saw attorney/client privileged emails during the "taint team" or view process.

Snyder contends federal prosecutors unfairly saw emails and work product that should have been considered attorney/client privilege. He is asking the court to either dismiss the indictment or disqualify the prosecuting team.

The emails in question were between Snyder and now U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch and were seized via a search warrant in 2015.

Snyder hired Kirsch in 2014. The government last year named Kirsch as U.S. attorney for Northern Indiana. Kirsch has recused himself from the case, which now is being managed by the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.

Snyder's defense team contends the federal "taint team" failed in its job to review emails, separating out those that could be considered attorney/client privilege. 

A series of hearings were held earlier this year, primarily behind closed doors, with final briefs filed on the matter late last month.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster asked Martin if he had any idea when Van Bokkelen might make a ruling on the issue. Koster said pending a ruling on the motion, there is some information Benson has not seen and may need to see.

Martin said he did not and directed her to ask Van Bokkelen.

"It is a fluid situation that may change some dynamics," Martin said.

"We reserve the right, depending on the ruling, to respond or file a new motion," Benson said. 

When discussing exhibits, Benson also told the judge there are "massive amounts of documents" prosecutors are going through. Koster added there will be "so much material" placed on the exhibit list.

09142018 - News Article - Portage mayor's corruption trial to start in October

Portage mayor's corruption trial to start in October
Chicago Tribune
September 14, 2018
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-pre-trial-hearing-st-0915-story.html

The federal corruption trial for Portage Mayor James Snyder and a tow operator in the city is ready to start on Oct. 9.

Magistrate Judge John Martin on Friday set the schedule for pre-trial filings as attorneys for Snyder and John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and federal prosecutors ready to seat a jury and begin arguments on Oct. 9. Snyder’s case has been pending since November 2016, and been continued four times.

Martin asked the attorneysfor the government and Snyder and Cortina if they are ready for trial.

“Yes,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster.

Jackie Bennett Jr., one of Snyder’s attorneys, and Kevin Milner, Cortina’s attorney, agreed they are ready.

While Martin prepped the schedule for pre-trial filings, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen is still weighing a motion to dismiss some of the charges or disqualify federal prosecutors handling the case.

Defense attorneys have argued that emails seized in 2015 were put through a faulty screening process, according to court documents, and the trial team accessed and used privileged communications. Snyder’s defense attorneys say the charges should be dismissed or the trial attorney disqualified if some email communications were accessed that shouldn’t have been.

Federal prosecutors say Snyder has not presented any evidence that shows his email communications were used in any improper way during the investigation, according to court documents, and that a judge should not disqualify the prosecutors on the case or dismiss any charges against the Portage mayor.

Koster asked if Martin had any sense of when that ruling may be issued.

“That obviously creates problems when preparing for trial,” Koster said.

“I do not,” Martin said. “I’m not dealing with those issues.”

Snyder and Cortina were charged 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 alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Portage Board of Works contract, and allegedly obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws.

Snyder and Cortina both pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.

Martin asked when the prosecution and defense would have their trial exhibit lists ready.

Koster asked to submit that to the court on Oct. 5.

“There’s tons and tons of documents,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson.

Martin said any plea agreement must be reached five days before trial.

“That deadline won’t matter,” Benson said.