Former mayor's convictions stand
Federal appeals court denies Portage's Snyder's request to dismiss decisions
Post-Tribune, The (Merrillville, IN)
June 17, 2023
Former Portage Mayor James Snyder's bid to have his federal convictions dismissed for a $13,000 bribe for a garbage truck contract and hiding income from the IRS with his mortgage business have come to an end as an appeals court ruled Thursday that the convictions will stand.
"Snyder has appealed, challenging his convictions on several grounds. We affirm," begins the 42-page filing with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
Snyder did not return a request for comment. He had been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and one year of supervised release but was allowed to remain free as his appeal made its way to a conclusion.
It is not immediately clear from the online court docket when Snyder might report to federal prison or what other avenues he might have going forward.
Snyder was indicted on two bribery counts and one related to the IRS in November 2016. While another federal indictment also was filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond that day involving another elected official, former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, Snyder's case dragged on long after Buncich's case came to a conclusion.
A jury convicted Buncich of bribery and wire fraud, among other charges, for soliciting bribes from county tow operators. Buncich, now 77, has a scheduled release date of Oct. 5, 2027, according to online records from the federal Bureau of Prisons. He is being housed at a secured federal medical facility in Springfield, Missouri.
Initially sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in prison, a judge reduced that by 37 months after an appeal by Buncich resulted in some of his convictions getting tossed out.
The appellate court ruling in Snyder's case provides a point-by-point refutation of Snyder's attempt to have his two convictions overturned. A jury in Snyder's first trial found him not guilty on a second bribery charge involving tow truck contracts.
A second jury reaffirmed his conviction on the bribery charge from the first trial.
In the bribery case, Snyder argued that his right to a speedy trial was being violated; that the bribe he received for a garbage truck contract was in fact payment for services he provided to Great Lakes Peterbilt, the firm that sold the city the garbage trucks; and that there was insufficient evidence for a conviction.
"Given irregularities in the bidding process, Snyder's contemporaneous contacts with the Buhas (unique among bidders), the timing of the $13,000 payment, the dubious explanations offered for the payment, and the lack of corroborating evidence for Snyder's claim that he was paid for consulting, a reasonable jury could conclude that Snyder accepted the check as a bribe or gratuity for steering the contracts to GLPB," the appellate judges noted.
As far as the IRS case, based on the government's argument that Snyder purposefully hid assets and income from the IRS after failing to pay personal and payroll taxes in a timely fashion by setting up a second business to funnel income without reporting it, the appellate court ruled that "sufficient evidence supported the jury's verdict."
Snyder had argued that the statute of limitations had passed on the IRS charges and that there was insufficient evidence for a jury to convict him.
Snyder has a pending federal lawsuit against current Portage Mayor Sue Lynch and Dan Whitten, the city attorney, alleging they coached Randy Reeder, a witness in the bribery case, not to meet with Snyder or his legal team.
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