11272019 - News Article - Judge denies acquittal for former Portage Mayor James

Judge denies acquittal for former Portage Mayor James
Chicago Tribune
November 27, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/ct-ptb-snyder-order-st-1128-20191127-dniixcjzpbgb7jnomkbk3yfueu-story.html

A federal judge denied former Portage Mayor James Snyder, who was found guilty of bribery and obstructing the IRS, a motion for acquittal on two counts on Wednesday, but granted a new trial on one of the counts.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen denied Snyder’s motion for acquittal to both charges of the purchase of garbage trucks and corruptly interfering with the administration of the Internal Revenue laws, according to the court order.

Van Bokkelen denied a motion for a new trial for the corruptly interfering with the administration of the Internal Revenue laws charge, but he granted the motion for a new trial on the purchase of garbage trucks charge, according to the order.

With the most recent ruling, Snyder’s sentencing dates of Dec. 6 and Dec. 17 were vacated. A new sentencing date has not yet been set.

In February, Snyder, 41, was convicted of taking a $13,000 bribe in exchange for contracts to sell five garbage trucks to the city and using a shell company to hide income and assets from the IRS while owing back personal and business taxes. The jury acquitted Snyder of a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.

Snyder has agreed to forfeit $13,000 to the federal government, documents said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, which oversaw the prosecution, said that Snyder could face up to 10 years in prison on the bribery charge, and up to three years in prison on the obstruction charge.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana was recused from the case, absent two prosecutors, as U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch II previously represented Snyder.

Snyder, a Republican, was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statute and obstruction or impeding the IRS.

Prosecutors said that when Snyder ran for mayor in 2011, he told residents he planned to automate Portage’s trash pickup, but wound up steering contracts for $712,882.50 and another for $425,355 to Great Lakes Peterbilt, which was then owned by Robert and Stephen Buha.

Defense attorneys say that Snyder used his experience in offering health insurance to city employees through the Affordable Care Act, and making technology upgrades to advice Great Lakes Peterbilt about making similar changes.

A second count said that Snyder, while owing tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS, funneled income through a shell company, and failed to disclose any of those assets to the IRS.

In September, Snyder’s sentencing date had been pushed back a second time from Sept. 24 to two days in December “to allow time to rule on the pending post-trial motions,” according to court records.

Federal prosecutors said Snyder allegedly solicited money from co-defendant John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.

Cortina, 80, in January pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list. Cortina did not testify during the trial, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself, according to court documents.

Snyder has maintained his innocence during the more than two years since he was indicted.

Following Snyder’s sentencing delay, Cortina, who was indicted alongside the mayor, requested his sentencing be reset to Jan. 10.