Former GOP Portage Mayor Snyder given surrender date to begin federal bribery, tax prison sentence
Times, The (Munster, IN)
June 23, 2023
HAMMOND — A federal judge Friday ordered former GOP Portage Mayor James Snyder to surrender himself Oct. 16 to begin serving a 21-month prison term for his bribery and tax violation convictions.
Federal prosecutors sought to have 45-year-old Snyder turn himself in by Tuesday, but that request was denied by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly.
During the Friday morning telephonic hearing, Kennelly referred to defense hopes of a successful appeal, specifically on the bribery charge, but said it remains a longshot.
"This is a really old case," he said.
In arguing for a delay in Snyder's surrender, defense attorney Andréa E. Gambino said, "We're not finished with the appeals process."
Snyder intends to seek another appellate hearing, as well as potentially seek to have the case heard by the Supreme Court, she said in a filing before the court.
"Mr. Snyder has received offers from several large firms with Supreme Court practices, to assist him in preparing a petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court," according to the defense. "These offers express the view that the Supreme Court is likely to grant certiorari on the issue."
The action in the case comes just more than a week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit 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," Amarjeet Bhachu, special attorney for the United States, had written in his request for a more immediate surrender.
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.
The sentence, passed down Kennelly in October 2021, was well below the recommended sentencing guideline of 46 to 57 months on Snyder's federal bribery and tax violation convictions.
Kennelly then in December 2021 granted Snyder's request to remain out on bond while appealing his convictions, one of which had been affirmed during two different trials.
Snyder 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 attorneys 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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