Feds oppose new trial, acquittal for former Portage mayor's bribery conviction
NWI Times
May 17, 2021
HAMMOND — Former Portage Mayor James Snyder failed in his attempt to characterize a $13,000 payment he accepted from a local trucking firm as a "gratuity," but probably not a "reward" and in no conceivable way a "bribe," federal prosecutors said in a document filed Sunday.
"The trial evidence would support a finding that, sometime prior to the contracts being awarded, Snyder solicited or demanded or agreed to accept payment later from the Buhas (then-owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt) intending to be influenced in connection with the garbage truck contracts," prosecutors said in challenging Snyder's attempt to reverse his March conviction on a federal bribery charge.
The government also filed a challenge Sunday to Snyder's request for a third trial in the case, should he not be awarded an acquittal.
Snyder argued a month ago that, "The prosecution presented one theory of culpability at trial: that Mr. Snyder rigged the public bidding process for the award of five automated garbage trucks, and did so in exchange for a bribe of $13,000. The prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence from which a jury could find that theory proven beyond a reasonable doubt."
Snyder, 43, a Republican, was found guilty of accepting a $13,000 check from Great Lakes Peterbilt in Portage seven years ago to corruptly influence the purchase of $1.125 million in garbage trucks.
He is scheduled to be sentenced July 1 by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois, who was brought in to oversee the local case.
Prosecutors, who argue there was sufficient evidence presented during the nearly two weeks of trial in March, recapped much of it in their response to Snyder's challenge.
"Snyder was also struggling financially," prosecutor's say in describing the conditions surrounding the $13,000 bribe.
They say the then-mayor owed thousands in unpaid personal taxes to the IRS and nearly $40,000 in trust fund penalties "due to his failure to pay payroll taxes despite withholding the money from his mortgage company employees' paychecks," the government said.
Snyder was also carrying more than $11,000 in personal credit card debt and his balances on two mortgages and a car were more than $73,000 above the assets' value, prosecutors said.
"Just shy of three weeks after receiving the second of the two truck sale contracts worth a total of $1.125 million, and one week after receiving the purchase order signed by Snyder" a then-owner of Great Lakes Peterbilt ordered a $13,000 check be made out to Snyder, prosecutors said.
While evidence presented at trial showed Snyder initially sought a loan and then pitched the idea of providing the trucking firm with health insurance advice and computer assistance for the money, prosecutors pointed out a lack of evidence of work done or that Snyder had the proper licensing.
"Snyder lied repeatedly to law enforcement and others when confronted about the $13,000 payment," prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say they also presented evidence of bid rigging.
Snyder was indicted in late 2016 and was first found guilty in early 2019 of the bribery charge and federal tax violations. He is awaiting sentencing on the tax violations.
The bribery verdict was overturned later that year and a former judge in the case ordered the retrial.
Snyder opted not to testify on his own behalf during the trial and declined to answer questions as he left the federal court building following his conviction.
