Friday hearing set on request for former GOP Portage Mayor Snyder's prison surrender
June 21, 2023
Times, The (Munster, IN)
HAMMOND — Former GOP Portage Mayor James Snyder could find out Friday morning if he will be required to surrender himself by Tuesday as requested by federal prosecutors to begin serving a 21-month prison term.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly, who had sentenced Snyder in October 2021, announced Wednesday morning his intention to hold a telephonic meeting to address the surrender date.
The sentence was well below the recommended sentencing guideline of 46 to 57 months on Snyder's federal bribery and tax violation convictions.
Federal prosecutors filed a request Tuesday for the prompt surrender date following Thursday's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit that rejected all of Snyder's claims of error in his case, which upheld his convictions.
"Now that the judgment has been affirmed, it is appropriate to revoke the defendant's bond and have the defendant surrender to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons," according to Amarjeet Bhachu, special attorney for the United States.
The motion references federal code "permitting bond pending appeal only when appeal presents a 'substantial question of law' likely to result in reversal or new trial."
"In view of the fact that this matter has been pending for a considerable period, the government respectfully requests that the defendant be ordered to surrender within seven days, on or before June 27, 2023," the motion reads.
Snyder's defense attorney had not filed a response by late Wednesday morning.
Snyder, 45, was 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. Additionally, federal prosecutors said he obstructed the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to collect unpaid taxes on a private mortgage company he ran.
He was tried and found guilty in February 2019. When Snyder's attorney's moved for a judgment of acquittal or a new trial, the district court denied the motion for acquittal but granted Snyder a new trial on the bribery charge. He was convicted for a second time in March 2021.
In an appeal argued before the court in January, Snyder's defense team said his rights were violated when the government seized email communications between him and his attorney as part of the discovery of evidence in the case.
The government maintained the integrity of its investigation through a filtering process in which federal agents determine which emails are considered "privileged" communications that should not be disclosed to the prosecution.
"The emails had been seized and the filter process completed before Snyder was indicted in November 2016, and only at that time did his Sixth Amendment right to counsel attach," the appellate court wrote. The court also concluded that seizure of Snyder's emails under the warrant did not violate the particularity requirement of the Fourth Amendment.
Snyder's team further argued that his conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence, which the judges did not find to be legitimate.
"The evidence here was sufficient to support the jury's verdict," the judges said. "Evidence at trial established that Snyder owed personal and payroll taxes and that the IRS had taken 'specific, targeted' steps to collect by levying Snyder's personal and business bank accounts."
Snyder's legal team took additional action in March, suing the city of Portage, Democratic Mayor Sue Lynch and city attorney Dan Whitten, accusing the two of instructing city employees, including case witness Randall Reeder Jr., to not meet with Snyder and his legal team as they prepared for his second trial.
Attorneys for the city, Lynch and Whitten filed a motion in May to dismiss. Snyder's legal team has five days to respond to the motion, according to federal court records.
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