Northwest Indiana Discussion

Federal prosecutors are recommending former Hammond City Councilman Al Salinas serve 46 months in prison, according to a sentencing memorandum filed Thursday in U.S. District Court.

In May, Salinas pleaded guilty to taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks for steering city work to a local contractor. He subsequently resigned from his 2nd District council seat, which he had held since 1995.

Under a plea deal with federal prosecutors, Salinas, 52, admitted to one count of steering city tree-trimming work to Dave’s Tree Service in exchange for more than $10,000 in cash payments from the business’s owner, David Johnson, of Munster.

Johnson pleaded guilty in October to a federal charge of paying the bribes to Salinas to receive city work funded by discretionary casino gaming money.

In addition to the bribery charge, Salinas also pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to file a tax return for the 2006 tax year. That charge is a federal misdemeanor.

U.S. Attorney David Capp wrote in the sentencing memorandum: “Salinas’ status as a councilman, whose main function was to decide how Hammond spent its money, including millions of federal dollars, adds to the hypocrisy of his behavior. Certainly, Salinas had a heightened duty to file a tax return and pay his fair share. Instead, he arrogantly thumbed his nose at the federal government and failed to pay more than $45,000 he owed in taxes."