Former Portage mayor dodges prison while appealing federal bribery, tax convictions
NWI Times
Dec 23, 2021
HAMMOND — Former Portage Mayor James Snyder was handed an early Christmas gift Thursday morning when a federal judge granted his request to remain out on bond rather than begin serving a prison term early next month while appealing his bribery and tax violation convictions.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly said Snyder has a legitimate issue for appeal in his argument that the evidence presented during his second trial in March, "at best supported only a finding that Mr. Snyder received a gratuity and not a bribe."
"Had the government sought to convict Mr. Snyder of bribery and punish him for it, it failed," according to Snyder's successful motion for bond.
Kennelly, who took just a few minutes during a teleconference call to issue his ruling, said if Snyder is successful in his appeal, it would vacate his sentence on the charge.
Snyder had argued, "Courts have also considered the fact that a sentence of 21 months is short enough that it may be wholly or substantially served by the time the appeal is briefed, argued and decided, causing the defendant-appellant to serve time for which he may not be compensated if his appeal results in a judgment of acquittal or new trial."
Had Snyder's motion for bond not been granted, the 43-year-old Republican would have remained under an order to turn himself in Jan. 5 to begin serving a 21-month prison sentence. The sentence given to him Oct. 13 by Kennelly was well below the recommended sentencing guideline of 46 to 57 months.
Snyder, who was on the Thursday morning call, was twice found guilty of soliciting and accepting a $13,000 bribe in 2014 in return for steering a $1.125 million contract for the purchase of garbage trucks for the city of Portage to the local Great Lakes Peterbilt company.
Federal prosecutors said he also obstructed the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to collect unpaid taxes on a private mortgage company he ran.
In his motion for bond, Snyder's legal team said a gratuity is defined as "no promise or agreement before, but payment after the act," as compared to a bribe, which is "a promise or agreement to pay made before and payment before the act."
"No evidence was offered at trial that would support a finding that Mr. Snyder and the Buhas made a quid pro quo agreement to exchange money for the exercise of influence over the awarding of a contract to purchase garbage trucks," Snyder argues.
Steven and Robert Buha had owned Great Lakes Peterbilt at the time of the offense.
"The Buhas specifically and strenuously denied that they had ever offered Mr. Snyder a bribe, testifying that they had made with Snyder a consulting agreement — albeit an agreement with which they were dissatisfied concerning the advice and consulting they received in exchange for their payment," Snyder argued.
No comments:
Post a Comment