Before inspiring FBI corruption probe, ex-official voted twice for Portage's Mayor Snyder
NWI Times
January 25, 2019
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/before-inspiring-fbi-corruption-probe-ex-official-voted-twice-for/article_490ebf40-b4d5-5034-85b2-9c15d7893ad6.html
HAMMOND — Steve Charnetzky voted for Portage Mayor James Snyder twice before asking the FBI to investigate Snyder.
"I'm not really a politician. I feel I vote for the best man or woman," Charnetzky told jurors in the seventh day of Snyder's public corruption case.
Less than two years after Charnetzky voted for Snyder the second time and after Snyder returned Charnetzky to the job of street superintendent, Charnetzky was one of two men who alerted the FBI to Snyder's possible wrongdoings in September 2013. That contact led to the FBI opening the investigation into Snyder in November 2013 and resulted in Snyder being indicted in November 2016 on two charges of bribery and one count of tax obstruction.
Charnetzky took the stand Friday shortly before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen broke for lunch. He was expected to testify Friday afternoon in regard to secret audio recordings he made of meetings prior to leaving his job in December 2016.
Earlier this week, FBI agent Eric Field identified Charnetzky as one of the people who originally alerted the FBI.
During the testimony, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster played one of the audiotapes for jurors of a meeting between Charnetzky, Assistant Street Superintendent Randy Reeder and City Attorney Gregg Sobkowski. They discussed the development of bid specifications for new city garbage trucks.
One of Snyder's bribery charges alleges he took $13,000 from Great Lakes Peterbilt, a local truck dealership, in return for the purchase of some $1 million in garbage trucks.
Snyder's attorneys objected to the tapes, but Van Bokkelen allowed them to be played contingent on Charnetzky testifying to their authenticity.
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