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 Post subject: Re: 67 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 7:41 am 
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Quote:
http://articles.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010-08-25/news/28516846_1_schererville-town-judge-east-chicago-city-council-robert-pastrick

Northwest Indiana corruption thrives in Chicago's shadow

August 25, 2010

Whether he was on trial or on "The Daily Show," Rod Blagojevich has again made Chicago politics a national topic.

The media spotlight that turns on Chicago with each new scandal illuminates the ugliness of the Chicago Way for all to see, but the city also casts a shadow that conceals a nasty political landscape just over the state line. Per capita, Cook County may not even be the most corrupt community in its TV market.

In Lake County, Ind. -- with a population one-tenth the size of Cook County -- federal prosecutors have sent nearly 50 public figures to prison since 2000, according to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Indiana.

In the same decade, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's anti-corruption campaign has indicted more than 150 politicians or public employees from Cook County, according to a study by University of Illinois at Chicago political science professor Dick Simpson.

"(Corruption) is probably worse in Lake County than Chicago," said G. Robert Blakey, a former federal attorney who wrote the racketeering statutes for the Kennedy Justice Department.

In a quote often repeated in northwest Indiana's political circles, Blakey's former boss, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, in 1962 purportedly called Lake County the most corrupt in the nation.

"I've never been able to trace the (Kennedy) quote to its source, but it sounds like something he would have said. I worked on the (Kennedy) campaign in Indiana. We knew Lake County," Blakey said.

In 2004, Blakey was hired by then-Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter to help draft a lawsuit against Robert Pastrick, the former mayor of East Chicago. The civil racketeering case was the first of its kind, alleging that Pastrick and 24 co-defendants ran the city as a "criminal enterprise." Pastrick and an aide were found liable last year for $108 million in damages.

And federal prosecutors' run in the Northern District of Indiana has been impressive, nabbing the president of the County Council, the best friend of Gary Mayor Rudy Clay, nearly half the East Chicago City Council, the Gary chief of police, the Schererville town judge and a Merrillville clerk-treasurer office employee who stole $300,000.

The cases are small (county Recorder Morris Carter took a $1,000 bribe) and large (two dozen East Chicago officials indicted in 2004 were convicted of misspending $24 million).

Among other Hoosiers, Lake County politicians have long been suspect.

"It's the only place like it in the state that has that kind of history and systemic problems," said Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller. "There's a kind of denial or lack of appreciation. They don't seem to realize how they look to people on the outside."

Lake County's proximity to Chicago is often considered by downstate Indiana lawmakers to be the root of the problem.

Though it suffers from a disease with the same symptoms, Chicago-style politics did not infect Lake County, said Greg Reising, a Gary attorney and local political historian.

The region's cities such as Gary, Hammond, East Chicago and Whiting were created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by industrial barons more concerned with controlling their tax bills than governing. The industrial boom brought immigrants from Greece and the Balkans, and Lake County politics quickly became a game of consolidating the balkanized blocs of voters with patronage jobs, Reising said.


"Then and now, you're not beholden to the broad electorate as a whole, you owe the tiny minorities that can put you over the top in a primary," said Reising, noting that, like Cook County, Lake County is monolithically Democratic.

"In a one-party state like (Lake County), as little as 10 percent of the registered voters can control an election," Reising said. "In Lake County politics, you don't have constituents, you have friends. And you take care of your friends."

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., who also is chairman of the Lake County Democratic Party, insists that a new, more law-abiding generation is replacing the "old school."

"I'm two decades younger than these guys," McDermott said. "We're all embarrassed by the reputation Lake County has. But I'm not part of it. I just happen to live here."

McDermott said there are some politics at play in the spate of indictments, which have targeted almost entirely Democratic officials since Republican Joseph Van Bokkelen was appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Indiana in 2001.

Van Bokkelen resigned to become a federal judge in 2007, and David Capp, appointed by President Barack Obama, continued Van Bokkelen's "Operation Restore Public Integrity" probe with the indictment of East Chicago Mayor George Pabey, a Democrat, in January.

"If you go looking for corruption here, or in the Southern District of Indiana or Chicago or Kentucky, you're going to find it," McDermott said.

"It's hardball politics here. We will throw at your chin. It's not criminal."

-- Andy Grimm



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XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


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 Post subject: Re: 67 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 6:14 pm 
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Boy oh Boy, reading the article below from 1991 is like reading the current McDermott play book!


Quote:
Hammond mayoral hopefuls create tale of two cities
StoryDiscussionBOB BROWN | Posted: Sunday, November 3, 1991 12:00 am |

HAMMOND - The acrimonious mayoral race has turned into a classic tale of two cities. One is told by Republican Mayor Thomas McDermott of a once-beleaguered community rising out of its economic morass, attracting increasing numbers of
new businesses and homeowners. (Sound familiar, it appears this is the new McDermott Mantra, if you say it, it must be true. It is what Mr. Sanitation is saying on his radio show).

The other as related by Democratic challenger John Smriga is a bleak saga of a decaying, corrupt town where residents are fleeing to escape an overwhelming tax bite. Whose tale Hammond voters believe likely will decide if McDermott gains a third consecutive term Tuesday or if Smriga recaptures control of the city's
top office for the Democrats, who had it for nearly 30 years before McDermott won in 1983.

McDermott, 43, said Hammond was a "city in chaos" when he took over, facing dire financial straits, high unemployment, vacant industrial space, school closings and an exodus of residents and businesses.

Under his stewardship, McDermott said, Hammond has stemmed the flow and is turning things around. The city embarked on an aggressive economic development campaign and has convinced 100 new companies to relocate or start up in
Hammond, he said. Again the same bs we hearing.

McDermott claimed Hammond has become a more attractive area because of the new $23 million marina, solid city services and an ambitious plans to rejuvenate the downtown area. As a result, Hammond now is a hot housing market, McDermott said. Sure did work didn't it, Hammond is a now changed community! I guess a band shell at Wolf lake and a Foam Statue of Liberty is McDermott Jr's new mantra.

"For the first time in years, people are proud to say they're from Hammond," he said. "He and I must live in two different cities," said Smriga, 54, the city's Democratic chairman.

Smriga contends McDermott's economic development program is a series of broken promises. He said McDermott announced a downtown rehabilitation four years ago, then let it sit forgotten until recently unveiling an election-eve
plan.
Ok we are hearing this again, a study that cost what, $500,000 requested by McDermott Jr. Same bs. Smriga also chided McDermott for a third ground breaking on the Hohman Avenue overpass and for three failed plans to develop the vacant Ashland Chemical site.

"He makes lot of statements and lots of promises but doesn't come through," Smriga said. Hammond still is losing population, dropping from nearly 94,000 in 1983 to just over 84,000 in the 1990 census, Smriga said. And he said the only reason people are house hunting in Hammond is depressed prices. "We are one of a few communities where home values have not increased," he said.

The two candidates are as different as their outlooks for the city. McDermott is trim, smooth and polished. He fancies stylish suits and, despite some gray in his neatly combed hair, projects a youthful image along the lines of Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh, who it is rumored McDermott will challenge in 1992.

Smriga is a bit rumpled, as may befit a man who has lost a third of the weight from his once massive 336-pound frame. He quickly rattles off answers between puffs on an ever-present cigarette, which he said he'll give up when he drops to 200 pounds.

Like many others growing up in the Robertsdale neighborhood, Smriga took a job in the Standard Oil refineries after graduating from Hammond Clark High School. He later managed a Howard Johnson's restaurant and worked as an auditor
with the Indiana Department of Revenue before entering the insurance business.

He is president of Mayflower Financial Services, which also provides accounting and tax services. Smriga, a former Hammond school board member, said he entered the Democratic mayoral primary "to avoid the fiasco of four years ago when we got killed."

McDermott beat State Sen. Frank Mrvan by about 8,000 votes in 1987. McDermott was born in Milwaukee but when he was young his family moved to Napa, Calif. While attending junior college there, McDermott got his first taste of politics, waging an unsuccessful write-in campaign for mayor. He moved to Hammond to take a job as circulation manager for The Times, then moved on to the Chicago Sun-Times. He quit to buy his own newspaper distributorships, which he has since sold.

In 1983, McDermott was a 35-year-old political newcomer who stood Hammond politics on its ears by pulling in the largest-ever margin of victory in toppling then Mayor Edward Raskosky. He won by nearly as big over Mrvan. Though
he wouldn't release specific numbers, McDermott said his polling shows him leading comfortably over Smriga.

If he wins, McDermott says this would be his last term. "I've said that out loud on numerous occasions," he said. "I don't think the body can take the amount of hours you have to work." McDermott never finished this term, it was reported in some circles that, let just say there were problems.

At the same time, McDermott acknowledges the persistent rumors that he will run for governor. Father like son?While he'd like to serve in another capacity in government, his inclination now is that it would take too much time away from his children. But he won't rule it out. "I think that would have to be the single most difficult thing in my life," he said.

Smriga hopes to give McDermott the free time no I did not put that in the articleto seek another post. The veteran Democratic war-horse is spending about $60,000 to get out his message, including commercials on cable television and direct mails ads. McDermott said he will spend about $100,000. That spending splurge is readily apparent around town. Lawns and street corners are thick with thousands of signs touting both candidates.

The pair have tangled over property taxes, the proposed Gary airport expansion and who has the higher moral ground.
Smriga said McDermott pledged in 1983 to lower property taxes but instead the city's portion of real estate tax bills has to the highest in the state. He said property taxes on his own home have gone from $904 in 1983 to $1,802 in
1990 and he expects it to rise to $2,300 this year.

"I'm just wondering why cities around us can make out on a lot less. Why is our civil city rate so out of line? It has to be mismanagement of city funds," he maintained. But Smriga couldn't say where money is being wasted or where
he'd cut the city budget.

McDermott said it doesn't matter what the rate is, but what people pay in property taxes. He said the average homeowner pays $400 today compared with $800 in 1983 as a result of Indiana's assessment system.

The pair also disagree on a proposal to expand the Gary airport into a third regional airport for Chicago. McDermott supports the idea, although he doubts the Gary site will be selected. Smriga staunchly opposes the plan, arguing it
would be too disruptive.

Smriga also said he is disturbed by what he termed the low "moral climate" in city government. He ticked off the names of indicted city officials such as former City Controller Ed Brown, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges, and
former water board attorney Stephen Goot, convicted in a ticket-fixing scheme.


Another convicted McDermott appointee cited by Smriga is former sanitary district Supt. Stewart Roth, who admitted to illegally discharging untreated waste into the Grand Calumet River. "He has run the most corrupt administration in the history of Hammond," Smriga charged. "More city officials indicted and convicted under Tom McDermott
than in 28 years of Democratic leadership."


McDermott said he is "ashamed" by the misdeeds of officials in his administration, but noted that Goot was convicted for a crime that occurred before he was named to his city post.

McDermott contended he has done much to clean up the way government does business. However, he added, there isn't much he can do to stop someone who tries to make a fast buck. "I'm sure today, right in my midst, someone's doing something I'm ashamed of," he said. "The might be other wheeling and dealing. The only thing I can do
is try to get the best people possible."

Smriga also mentions Reginald Kinkade, a video poker machine operator who during his trial on bribery and racketeering charges claimed a relationship with McDermott. McDermott angrily denies knowing or associating with Kinkade. McDermott said the accusation is part of a campaign by Democrats to smear him with rumors that he's a drug user and abuses his wife. "That's their whole platform," he said.

Smriga said he has heard those stories but denies any role in spreading them. "I've chewed out others who did and told them to stop," he said.

Smriga has been called to task about supporting running mate Peter Katic for re-election as judge. Katic is alleged to have bared his behind to female employees. Smriga said Katic's action may "have been a little inappropriate,"
but he doesn't believe it was a case of sexual harassment.

_________________
XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


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 Post subject: Re: 67 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 7:19 pm 
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I am sure everyone gates the relevance from a 20 year old article. Seriously Chuck keep it within a decade at least.


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 Post subject: Re: 67 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 9:19 pm 
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xmpt wrote:
I am sure everyone gates the relevance from a 20 year old article. Seriously Chuck keep it within a decade at least.



Yessssa Sir Mr. Boss man, Mr. Fire Captain. Yous sure do write them their those rules.

_________________
XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


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 Post subject: Re: 70 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:36 am 
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for a full list of indicited and convicted Lake County politicians, visit the first page.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/former-gary-city-official-nearing-plea-deal-in-federal-fraud/article_8002b627-2f2e-5032-8cfa-c8148cd40e08.html

Quote:
Former Gary city official nearing plea deal in federal fraud case

By Marisa Kwiatkowski marisa.kwiatkowski@nwi.com, (219) 662-5333 | Posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 6:45 pm | (3)

HAMMOND | A former Gary official is close to filing a plea agreement in her federal fraud case, a motion filed Tuesday in Hammond federal court shows.

Attorney Kevin Milner filed a motion Tuesday to continue Jacquelyn Drago-Hunter's jury trial, which is scheduled for early December. Drago-Hunter, who worked as Gary's community development director at the time she was indicted, and three others are accused of pocketing $301,247 by orchestrating a complex real estate fraud scheme.

In his motion, Milner said he is "confident" the case can be resolved with a nontrial disposition, court records state. He said he is in the process of negotiating a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

A grand jury indicted Drago-Hunter, Jerry Haymon, Sheila Chandler and Phillip Rucker last year on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The defendants are accused of funneling the more than $300,000 to themselves between October 2007 and November 2008 by inflating the purchase prices of four Gary properties, faking buyers' financial security, forging loan documents and filing fake mechanic's liens against three of the four properties for work that never was done, federal records state.

Haymon and Chandler already have pleaded guilty, court records show.

Drago-Hunter allegedly used Maximilian Title in the schemes, a company she owned and operated out of Gary and Merrillville. She is accused of preparing false settlement statements, disbursing loan proceeds and either forging or having someone forge buyers' signatures on some documents, federal records state. She also didn't pay money owed to a vendor who had provided the buyer with help in making the down payment on a property, court records state.

As community development director, Drago-Hunter managed millions of dollars in federal and community development block grants for Gary. A city official told The Times on Tuesday that Drago-Hunter no longer works for the city. Further information was not available.

_________________
XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


Last edited by justcallmetommy on Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: 73 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 5:21 pm 
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At least this is current. It has no point but it is current.


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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:29 pm 
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Nice, this is the 78th Lake County Official to be nailed. See the first page of this thread for a summary.

Thanks Mr. Capp.


Quote:
Former E.C. school treasurer to plead guilty to accepting bribe



Former E.C. school treasurer to plead guilty to accepting bribe

By Sarah Tompkins sarah.tompkins@nwi.com, (219) 836-3780 nwitimes.com | Posted: Monday, March 12, 2012 7:15 pm | (6) Comments

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HAMMOND | The former treasurer for East Chicago's public schools will plead guilty to receiving a bribe — a federal offense that could carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Francisco "Frank" Ramirez, 49, of East Chicago, exchanged a school contract with a local construction company for thousands of dollars in free home repairs, according to a plea agreement filed Monday.

Ramirez and Geraldo "Jerry" Lozano, 34, of Hobart, were indicted Thursday. The indictment was unsealed Friday.

Lozano, who owned Green Tree Builders, is charged with paying a bribe to an agent or local government receiving federal funds, while Ramirez was charged with receiving that bribe. In 2008, East Chicago's schools received more than $10,000 in federal funding.

That same year, Ramirez hired Green Tree Builders to perform landscaping work at East Chicago's high school in preparation for a political candidate's arrival for a speaking engagement, according to court records.

After the project, Ramirez spoke to Lozano about additional work with the school as a trade-off for doing home improvements on Ramirez's home, records state.

"We also agreed that he could inflate the bills to cover his costs," Ramirez said in the plea agreement.

Lozano allegedly performed a slew of services at the home, including cleaning the deck, installing insulation in the attic, tearing out the concrete driveway and pouring a new one, renovating the kitchen and installing a tile floor.

While Ramirez paid for patio pavers and some kitchen materials, he said Lozano provided the other services and materials in exchange for the school jobs.

John Cantrell, who is representing Lozano, said his client continues to maintain his innocence, and that it was unusual for a defendant like Ramirez to commit to a plea agreement so soon after being indicted.

"It's like deciding whether or not you like a movie without even watching the movie," Cantrell said.

Green Tree Builders received about $173,000 in authorized payments from the school district through Ramirez between May 2008 and November 2008, records state. Ramirez obtained benefits of between $5,000 and $10,000 from the scheme, according to the plea agreement.

Ramirez has agreed to cooperate with the government, and prosecutors said they will recommend a sentence at the low end of his calculated guideline range in exchange for his help.

Lozano also did contract work with East Chicago and was subpoenaed to testify in the 2010 corruption trial of former Mayor George Pabey. Lozano was not charged in connection with Pabey's case.

A jury found Pabey guilty of using city resources to revamp his home in the Miller Beach neighborhood of Gary, and he is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Minnesota.

Both Ramirez and Lozano were released Friday on $20,000 bond, which they will have to pay should they not appear at future hearings. Thomas Vanes, who is representing Ramirez, declined to comment Monday.

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... z1p2S8PYyl

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XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


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 Post subject: Re: 73 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:09 pm 
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xmpt wrote:
At least this is current. It has no point but it is current.


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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:10 pm 
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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/philpot-guilty-on-all-five-counts/article_2ab1a901-230b-5114-8ebe-91b84326c1f3.html

Quote:
HAMMOND | A U.S. District Court jury convicted Lake County Coroner and former county Clerk Thomas Philpot on Friday on five counts of theft and fraud charges.

The five-man, seven-woman jury took little more than three hours to reject defense pleas Philpot was the victim of an honest mistake and bad legal advice that led him to violate an obscure state law when he pocketed more than $24,000 from Indiana's federally funded child support incentive funds. He controlled the funds between 2004 and 2009 while serving as Lake County clerk.

That law forbids elected officials from giving themselves such bonuses without the approval of the seven-member fiscal body called the County Council.

Instead, jurors agreed the 54-year-old Highland lawyer was guilty of five felony counts that carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Senior U.S. District Court Judge James Moody released Philpot on bond and hasn't yet set a sentencing date.

The conviction strips Philpot from office as county coroner and all but ends his public career, which includes election as county coroner in 1992, 1996 and 2008; election as county clerk in 2002 and 2006; and his unsuccessful campaigns for Hammond mayor in 1995 and 1999, and for sheriff in 2010.

Philpot didn't take the witness stand during his five-day trial, but his lawyers, Theodore Poulos, of Munster, and Leonard Goodman, of Chicago, argued Philpot deserved the benefit of reasonable doubt because Philpot's former lawyer, David Saks, erroneously advised Philpot he was within the law.

They said Philpot returned the money, with interest, two years ago when he learned of the error.

"Is it a federal crime not to know all the statutes in the law books? He was trying to do the right thing. That's the essence of good faith," Goodman said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson, who won the conviction, told jurors Philpot's "ignorance" defense was absurd.

"Take into consideration his education, training, his intelligence. How could someone who had been in office for a decade think he could pay himself whatever he wants, whenever he wants?

"The taxpayers trusted the defendant as a lawyer, a doctor and a two-term coroner. He stole money from them," Benson said.

Benson said state Rep. Shelli Vandenburgh deserves the credit of being the first to warn Philpot in 2004 that child support incentive money was only to be paid to employees doing the work, not to administrators.

Vandenburgh said Philpot ignored her advice and took the majority of the incentive grant, giving only a small amount to the workers. Benson said Philpot's greed was evidence of his guilt. "Follow the money, ladies and gentlemen," he told jurors.

Vandenburgh said she warned Philpot again in 2007 that state officials were balking at the bonus scheme. Philpot didn't take a bonus that year. Vandenburgh left the clerk's office shortly afterward to run for the state Legislature.

Goodman said Vandenburgh was a biased witness.

"She is running for re-election and did the best she could to deflect blame to protect her political career and dump on Tom Philpot," he said. Benson countered, "She did the right thing."

Benson said Philpot attempted to get the bonus scheme approved by hiding it in an innocuous transfer request he had put on the council's agenda in 2008. But Councilwoman Christine Cid, an opponent of supplemental pay for favored officials and employees, warned she would oppose the measure. Philpot withdrew the request from the council's agenda.

Benson said Philpot took a final bonus in 2009 before resigning as clerk to become county coroner. "It was a money grab before he left office," Benson said.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., commented on the case Friday, "I hate do say it, but if you are an elected official, charged with a crime, there is a presumption of guilt. You have to present a case. If you don't, the voters and jury think you are hiding."

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XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:23 pm 
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A partial list of Lake County Politicians, influential power brokers, some who have been convicted, others under indictment. I will add to this list from time to time as info becomes available. :(

Sources include publications such as the Hammond Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Suntimes, Gary Tribune Post and other media sources.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_decbcc06-e795-5b8c-a43b-0036497fa9cd.html


CONVICTED unless otherwise indicated

1. R. O. Johnson, Mayor of Gary Johnson was convicted by the feds in 1923 of conspiracy to violate the Volstead Act. He began serving his sentence in 1925. President Calvin Coolidge, having sympathy for his plight, granted him a pardon after his release. He ran 2 more times, successfully, for mayor. Evidently the citizenry, not surprisingly, did not hold his conviction against him? http://gdynets.webng.com/Good_Gov.htm

2. Stephen R. Goot, a Hammond Attorney received a 20-year sentence, one of the stiffest given to the 16 people convicted in the Operation Bar Tab investigation of corruption in Lake County courts. Goot served as the Hammond water board lawyer until the federal investigation that led to his conviction on ticket fixing. (1991). http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/article_c9e38ff7-e7e9-5f94-a9de-dd4002bcd2b3.html

3. Nick Morfas. Goot as we have read above was convicted at federal trial. The principal official with whom Goot interacted and conspired was deputy prosecutor Nick Morfas. Goot pleaded not guilty and went to trial; Morfas pleaded guilty and testified against Goot.

Morfas would steal and destroy the prosecutor's file. Sometimes Morfas would steal and destroy the court's file as well. Once the time for refiling had passed without any further action taken by the prosecutor, Goot would file a second motion to dismiss, which would be granted. A check then would be issued by the prosecutor's office to Goot, the holder of the bond receipt, but payable to the person who initially posted the bond. Goot would give this check to Morfas who would forge the payee's signature and retain the funds as his share in the scheme.

In some cases, Morfas would represent himself to DUI defendants as an attorney, sign Goot's name to the paper work or have Goot sign his name, and then steal the files and collect the fees. Morfas needed to use Goot's name because he could not use his own, being a deputy prosecutor. As a quid pro quo, Morfas either would help Goot with one of Goot's cases or would pay Goot a share of the fees. http://federal-circuits.vlex.com/vid/america-plaintiff-stephen-goot-defendant-37294529

The jury found Goot guilty on both counts and he was sentenced to two concurrent twenty-year prison terms (the statutory maximum on each count) and a $25,000.00 fine. Morfas, who was sentenced later, got four years and a $6000.00 fine.

4. Metro Holovachke, former prosecuting attorney of Lake County, Indiana, all on tax charges. http://www.justice.gov/ag/rfkspeeches/1963/01-10-1963.pdf

5. George Chacharis, Mayor of Gary, Indiana, who in approximately 1963, pleaded guilty to charges that he failed to report and pay taxes on more than $250, 000 in payoffs from construction firms. http://www.justice.gov/ag/rfkspeeches/1963/01-10-1963.pdf

6. Unsolved Murder: Hammond detectives have no doubts about who fired the fatal bullet into the back of Henry "Babe" Lopez's neck in 1979. They said they know without question who dropped a basketball-sized rock onto the gas pedal of the former East Chicago parks superintendent's city-owned vehicle, propelling his dead body into the Grand Calumet River.
Yet, 30 years later, Lopez's family still lives without closure. "They believed Babe Lopez was cooperating with the federal government investigation into corruption in East Chicago," Solan told The Times. "Babe Lopez was not cooperating, and that belief cost Babe his life."

Dec. 12, 1979, the last day Lopez was seen alive Former City Clerk Charles Pacurar, now East Chicago's city controller, told Hammond police in 1980 that Lopez's death may have been related to $900,000 in Park and Recreation Bond funds.
In 1974, before Lopez was parks superintendent, the City Council moved $900,000 to park development line item 713 in the budget, records state. Pacurar told police that line item did not exist. The State Board of Accounts repeatedly questioned how the park bond money had been spent, state audits from 1977 to 1983 show. The board's field examiners asked then-City Controller James Knight to determine whether the funds had been used for the purpose for which the bonds were issued. As of Aug. 19, 1982, Knight had not replied, records state.

Numerous sources told police they believed Edelmiro "Corfi" DeJesus was involved in Lopez's death. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, and city and county authorities in Illinois and Indiana believed DeJesus was a mob assassin involved in numerous illegal activities, records state. DeJesus was shot and killed execution-style May 27, 1980 -- four months after Lopez's body was found. His death is still unsolved, East Chicago Police Chief Gus Flores said.
Summers said he believes DeJesus and his cronies were responsible for executing Lopez's murder. Then DeJesus was killed because he was mouthing off about killing Lopez, Summers added. Other sources contend the murder was drug-related.
But questions remained: Why was Lopez murdered? Who ordered the hit?

Summers recently told The Times the investigation into Lopez's murder "always pointed just straight in one direction" -- toward Vince Kirrin. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/article_3e42b286-61f5-593b-9f9c-f334a8a600be.html BTW, Hammond’s Mayor, Thomas McDermott Jr has refused to answer ask several questions asked by Indiana’s State Board of Accounts.

7. Unsolved Murder: East Chicago political insider Jay Given was shot , assignation style, attending a fund raiser for up and coming politician N. Atterson Spann, inside the vestibule of the Jockey Club. 30 years later, the case remains unsolved, but evidence points to a high-ranking former East Chicago police official who it’s alleged had a long term political beef with Givens. Interesting reading http://www.nwitimes.com/news/foreign-language/politico-given-murder-remains-unsolved-nearly-years-later/article_b6ddb22f-d8d7-5e20-b6a4-9ca7bbc4f50b.html
One woman, opted to spend 10 days in jail for contempt of court rather than cooperate fully with investigators. Investigators said they thought the Jockey Club worker was holding out important information. The woman felt like a "lost ball in tall weeds, ... (and) just wanted to forget that entire night," she told police. She had learned to see and not see, she said, because "in East Chicago, two people could be standing side-by-side, one could have his head blown off and the other would not have seen a thing."

8. John Nicosia, who served as East Chicago mayor from 1963 to 1971, was convicted in the late 1970s in connection with a $1 million sewer construction kickback scheme. http://www.indianabusinessnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=76&ArticleID=61424

9. Michael Jankovich, 76, of Hobart, former Lake County assessor and longtime local Democratic power: sentenced to prison for 6 years, fined $250,000 and ordered to forfeit $11,700 in bribe receipts, after pleading guilty to charges of racketeering and extortion in soliciting bribes from businessmen in return for cutting their tax bills. Approximately 1986.

10. Frank A.J. Stodola, 66, of Hammond, a former judge and county commissioner: sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for racketeering and extortion and ordered to forfeit $10,800 in bribe money, amid charges that he sold his commissioner`s office to the highest bidder. Approximately 1986.

11. Lake County Judge Orval Anderson, was convicted of perjury (1986) for his testimony at the trial of a court administrator. The conviction was associated with Operation Bar Tab. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-01-07/news/8601020398_1_indiana-judge-court-clerk-indiana-supreme-court

12. Former Lake County Sheriff Rudy Bartolomei was convicted of extortion while serving as sheriff in 1985. He entered the witness protection plan with his wife in about 1986. Interesting article by the Chicago Tribune on Bartolomei's rise to power and fall from political graces: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-11-13/features/8802160613_1_jail-lake-county-highest-bidder

13. Roland D. Watson, former deputy assessor of Calumet Township, which includes the city of Gary Watson, 37, of Gary, pled guilty of having conspired to share in bribes paid by businessmen to win tax breaks for their properties.

14. Carol Sinks, 42, an East Chicago woman, pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge James Clement. Sinks was fined $1,000 and given a one-year suspended jail sentence Tuesday after admitting her part in a ghost payroll scheme in Hammond.

Sinks and the late John Klobuchar, a former North Township trustee, were accused of theft, ghost employment and conspiracy in a scheme in which Klobuchar hired Sinks to manage the township`s Hammond office at a $20,500 salary while the woman was working full time for a construction company. It had been reported Klobuchar and Sinks were in a relationship. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-12-13/news/8903170714_1_sinks-scheme-ghost

Klobuchar died before the case went to trial, but Lake County Prosecutor Jon DeGuilio said the guilty plea gave ``credibility to our ghost-payrolling statute.`

15. Unsolved Murder: The bodies of a man and woman found burned in a car on Gary`s south side are believed to be those of a sheriff`s deputy and his wife, authorities said Monday. The deputy had been active in several federal investigations and was scheduled to testify in an upcoming federal racketeering trial. The victims are Cpl. Gary Rosser, 42, a 15-year veteran of the Lake County Sheriff`s Department, and his wife, Teresa.

Rosser was to testify in the trial of a Merrillville councilman and suspended sheriff`s officer who is accused of involvement in a shakedown racket. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-01-16/news/9001040803_1_bodies-sheriff-s-spokesman-police

16. Michael Mokol Sr, 48, a 19-year police veteran and former Merrillville town trustee, had been convicted of funneling $33,000 in bribes to former Lake County Sheriff Rudy Bartolomei, his political mentor. The payoffs in 1984 and 1985 came from Reginald P. Kinkade, an East Chicago distributor of video poker machines.

The money, in the form of political contributions, went to Sheriff Bartolomei through Mokol, buying protection from gambling raids. At the time the machines were operating legally in scores of taverns, clubs and fraternal halls in the county. Kinkade, however, paid bribes to police to avoid investigation, according to trial testimony.

Mokol was sentenced to 20 years in prison by U.S. District Judge James Moody, an angry federal judge who said society ``has a right to strike back`` at corrupt law officers. In sentencing Mokol for bribery, Moody said he was sending a message to the 190 sheriff`s police officers and 850 other law officers in local communities throughout the county that bribery is intolerable. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-07-27/news/9003030302_1_gambling-raids-police-officers-law-officers

17. Alan Frost, introduced to Hammond, believed by the McDermot Sr Administration. There had been a question on how Frost readily acquired the abandoned JC Pennies building on Hohman Avenue. Frost had the full blessing of the city to remodel an old store downtown for a computer school that was supposed to bring hundreds of jobs to Hammond. He eventually went to prison after being convicted in Florida for scamming the federal government on that venture.

18. Stewart Roth, Hammond Sanitary district Supt. admitted to illegally discharging untreated waste into the Grand Calumet River. Roth plead guilty in July of 1990. Roth faced a possible prison term of 20 years and a fine of $40,000.

Problems at the plant came to the forefront in 1988, after a growing stench at the plant was reported by north side residents and a 9-foot-deep . . .an``island`` of untreated human waste in the Grand Calumet was discovered by environmentalists; that unprocessed volume ``as enough to fill the Exxon Valdez 185 times.....the raw sewage was enough to cover Hammond`s approximately 25 square miles 30 inches deep.

The investigation found that Roth had reported that 30 billion gallons of sewage had been processed by the plant from Jan. 1, 1986, through May 31, 1988, when only 12 billion gallons were treated. Why he did this was never disclosed. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-07-14/news/9002270497_1_raw-sewage-sanitary-board-treatment-plant
Roth apparently didn't learn from his first go around.

In 2012 Roth plead guilty in Federal Court for illegal dumping. Unfortunately Roth and others operated, undiscovered for years and years, dumping untreated waste in Hammond sewage system at a company owned site at 141st St. Hammond authorities were apparently unaware this site was dumping illegal waste for years and years. It appears the city never inspected the site. So much for Hammond’s inspectional services. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/12254534-418/manager-at-ec-business-admits-illegal-dumping.html

18. Peter Benjamin, former Lake County auditor and assessor, paying bribes to Lake County Councilman Troy Montgomery.

19. Troy Montgomery, former Lake County councilman, accepting Benjamin's bribes.

20. & 21. Lake County Judge Steven Bielak, 34, pleaded guilty in Hammond before U.S. District Judge James Moody. Bielak, A traffic court judge in Lake County, Ind., and Robert Balitewicz, 49, a court clerk pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges arising from a federal investigation of the disposition of drunk driving cases in northwest Indiana. 1991

The two had been charged by a federal grand jury in a 28-count indictment in June 1986, for failing to notify the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles of drunk-driving convictions as required by state law. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-01-07/news/8601020398_1_indiana-judge-court-clerk-indiana-supreme-court http://www.justice.gov/osg/briefs/1989/sg890014.txt

22. Former Hammond City Controller Edward Brown, has pleaded guilty to income-tax charges and had cooperated with federal authorities. Brown, 42, was charged in April (1991) by the U.S. attorney's office for failure to report all his income for calendar year 1985.

June 1991, a full six years after his income tax evasion, Former city Controller Edward A. Brown implicated himself and others Thursday in a bribery scheme to protect video-poker gambling in Hammond. Brown, 42, of Hammond was pleading guilty before U.S. District Court Judge James Moody to a felony tax-fraud charge that he failed to disclose protection money he received from Reginald Kinkade.

He said Kinkade, owner of Variety Amusement Co. of East Chicago, gave him up to $4,000 each month from the fall of 1984 to the end of 1985 to keep police from seizing about 50 poker machines …

23. Vince Kirrin, an East known as a back-room politician who wielded immense influence over East Chicago and Lake County politics. Kirrin was indicted during a federal investigation into corruption in Lake County and served time in prison for conspiracy and mail fraud convictions. Kirrin died in 1998. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-07-20/news/9103210240_1_bribes-cleaning-tax-fraud

Kirrin said he used elbow grease to vigorously clean the Lake County (Ind.) government center, transforming the courthouse, jail and office building ``from a pigsty into a showpiece.`` 1985-86 contract, which went to a firm nominally headed by his nephew, Joe Macko.

Macko testified that his uncle surprised him with a gift of $2,000 only days before he was called to testify under subpoena about the cleaning contract before a federal grand jury. Capp said the money was a bribe. Macko admitted he had no experience cleaning public buildings, unless``GI parties in the military`` was a qualifier. He said he performed no executive duties, and had no office.

The government contended that, in order to get the contract, Kirrin paid $30,000 in bribes to Lake County Commissioner Steve Corey. Corey denied the charge, saying any money from Kirrin was nothing more than a loan to the his family`s bakery business, and the loan had been repaid.

Former County Commissioner N. Atterson Spann testified against Kirrin, saying he and Corey were aware of Kirrin`s behind-the-scenes role. Spann is serving a 30-year federal prison sentence for taking bribes to influence county business. He said he hoped his testimony would earn him a sentence reduction.

But a federal court jury in Hammond convicted the East Chicago businessman of paying bribes to win a $246,000-a-year, no-bid contract to clean the center. Kirrin wished to avoid the public spotlight, said Capp, because he already was receiving up to $660,000 a year in county printing business.

24. Noah Atterson Spann, 48, of East Chicago, the highest elected black county executive and a fellow county commissioner with Bartolomei: sentenced to 20 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, fined $25,000 and ordered to forfeit $29,615 in payoff money.

25. Rudy Byron, 51, of Gary, a Spann protégé and former Lake County inspector: sentenced to 9 years in prison and fined $15,000 for accepting payoffs to help two janitorial firms get lucrative county contracts and for concealing payments of $50,000 from his income-tax returns.

26. East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds, lying to the FBI.

27. East Chicago City Councilman Joe De La Cruz, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds.

28. East Chicago City Controller Edwardo Maldonado, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds. Convicted a second time in July 2006 for using public money to pay his defense attorneys.

29. East Chicago City Councilman Adrian Santos, pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the $24 million sidewalks-for-votes case.

30. Joel Markovich, former Lake County councilman and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

31. Robert J. Velligan, contractor, tax fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

32. Marilyn and Gregory J. Gill, contractors, tax and bankruptcy fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

33. Dimitrios Sazalis, contractor, tax fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

34. East Chicago Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr., fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

35. East Chicago City Engineer Pedro Porras, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

36. East Chicago City Councilman Randall Artis, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

37. Terrance Artis, brother of Randall Artis and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

38. Gerry Nannenga, former carpenter's union official, accepting bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.

39. Kevin Pastrick, son of former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick, paying bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.

40. Peter Manous, former Indiana Democratic chairman, paying bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.

41. Carl Paul Ihle Jr., co-owner with Kevin Pastrick of Sand Creek Sales, forging documents and lying about the Coffee Creek land deal.

42. & 43. Katie Hall and Junifer Hall, In May 2002, Katie Hall, again serving as Gary City Clerk, and her daughter, Chief Deputy Clerk Junifer Hall, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, extortion, and mail fraud.

Junifer Hall was also charged with five counts of perjury. Hall eventually pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to house arrest and probation. Junifer Hall was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison. Gary city clerk, was convicted of extorting $19,000 in campaign contributions from office employees. Hall was Indiana's first African-American member of Congress. Someone in her office reached out to federal authorities asking for relief.


44. Jojuana Meeks, embezzling money from Gary Urban Enterprise Association. This embezzlement involved millions, upon millions of dollars, diverted from its original use to revitalize Gary for personal use. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Urban_Enterprise_Association

45. Wanda Joshua, convicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township.

46. Charmaine Pratchett, embezzling money from GUEA.

47. Derrick Earls, embezzling from GUEA board.

48. Johnnie Wright, embezzling from GUEA board.

49. Greg Hill, contractor who didn't report GUEA income.

50. Will Smith Jr., Lake County Council president, tax evasion for a questionable land deal with GUEA.

51. Roosevelt Powell, former delinquent tax collector for Lake County, tax evasion, theft conspiracies involving GUEA land deals.

52. Former East Chicago Police Chief Edward Samuels, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project.

53. East Chicago Building Commission Miguel "Mike" Arredondo, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project.

54. Gary City Parks Superintendent Kimberly Lyles, lying to federal agents about influence peddling.

55. Assistant County Building Administrator Jan Allison, extortion.

56. G. Gregory Cvitkovich, former North Township trustee, tax fraud.

57. James H. Fife III, a former special assistant to the East Chicago mayor, federal tax fraud.

58. Karen Krahn-Fife, federal tax fraud.

59. Robert White, Gary city councilman, fraud.

60. Lake County Recorder Morris Carter, extortion.

61. Paul Hernandez, union fraud and corruption.

62. Ken Castaldi, union fraud and corruption.

63. Otho Lyles III, tax evasion and lying to FBI in Gary City Hall investigation.

64. Jewell Harris Sr Convicted of double-billing Gary for debris-hauling work at The Steel Yard stadium. Harris was once one of the most powerful political figures in Gary. Harris, former Mayor Scott King’s campaign manager until the two had a bitter split, had been charged with seven counts of money laundering and mail and wire fraud stemming from work Harris did hauling debris from the stadium site in 2001. Convicted that he bilked the city out of $1.5 million while working on the $45 million baseball stadium.

65. Willie Harris, Gary attorney, tax evasion, theft conspiracies involving GUEA land deals.

66. Bob Cantrell , a long time East Chicago political operative. Cantrell was reportedly behind McDermott Sr first run for Hammond Mayor, was convicted of tax evasion and insurance fraud. Cantrell used his influence with area elected officials, judges., etc to obtain contracts for a counseling company owned and operated by Nancy Fromm. Cantrell's income was reported in federal transcripts to be over $200,000 a year. Who says crime doesn't pay?

67. Nancy Fromm, addiction counselor, lying to federal agents. Fromm reportedly derived substantial income for referrals tor her company, due to Bobby Cantrell's political connections.

68. Former Schererville Town Judge Deborah Riga, fraud in using office to personally benefit her family business.

69. Ann Marie Karras , age 65 of Gary, guilty in April 2009 of two fraud counts for taking checks from a federal contract between 2000 and 2002. (Seven Years Later ) Karras was serving as Calumet Township as the Deputy of Finance.

Co-conspirators Calumet Township Trustee, Dozier T. Allen, Jr., and three of his senior employees at the trustee’s office, Wanda Joshua, and Albert Young, Jr. were charged and found guilty of mail fraud. http://www.justice.gov/usao/inn/press_release/documents/2007/September_07/DAllen_9.20-indicted.htm

70. Dozier Allen, Calumet Township Trustee, convicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township, found guilty.

71. Albert Young Jr., who signed a plea agreement and admitted guilt, to two years on probation, convicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township. http://www.justice.gov/usao/inn/press_release/documents/2007/September_07/DAllen_9.20-indicted.htm

72. Morris Carter, County Recorder took a $1,000 bribe. http://articles.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010-08-25/news/28516846_1_schererville-town-judge-east-chicago-city-council-robert-pastrick

73. Jerry Haymon has plead guilty, per court records, a year after their indictment on on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The defendants (Drago-Hunter, Jerry Haymon, Sheila Chandler and Phillip Rucker) were indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft accused of funneling the more than $300,000 to themselves between October 2007 and November 2008 by inflating the purchase prices of four Gary properties, faking buyers' financial security, forging loan documents and filing fake mechanic's liens against three of the four properties for work that never was done, federal records state.http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/former-gary-city-official-nearing-plea-deal-in-federal-fraud/article_8002b627-2f2e-5032-8cfa-c8148cd40e08.html

74. Jacquelyn Drago-Hunter, Gary HUD Official, October 6, 2011 was suspended for her October 2010 federal indictment for her suspected involvement in an alleged real estate fraud scheme. Drago-Hunter is responsible for administering millions of dollars of federal money to dozens of social service agencies. The former director of community development for the city of Gary admitted Friday morning (01/13/2011) in federal court to working with a local businessman in a mortgage fraud scheme that took in almost $200,000. Jacquelyn Drago-Hunter plead guilty to one count of wire fraud.http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/9993779-418/former-gary-official-pleads-guilty-to-mortgage-scheme.html

HUD spokesman Jerry Brown said. “Gary has to help itself by cleaning up its act. It’s going to take that type of commitment in building its track record if the city is going to continue getting federal funds.”
April 19th, 2012 sentenced to spend 15 months in prison in addition to paying restitution of almost $88,000, a federal judge ruled Thursday afternoon.

75. Sheila Chandler has plead guilty, per court records, a year after her indictment on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/former-gary-city-official-nearing-plea-deal-in-federal-fraud/article_8002b627-2f2e-5032-8cfa-c8148cd40e08.html

76. Frederick M. Cuppy, 70, Merrillville’s former town attorney and Peter G. Rogan, 65, formerly of Valparaiso, were charged October 3rd, 2011 in Chicago in connection with their roles in hiding money from federal investigators and a bank, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago. Cuppy was charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, three counts of perjury and three counts of obstruction of justice. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/8018706-418/former-merrillville-attorney-indicted-by-feds.html
Cuppy is accused of hiding funds so that Rogan could avoid paying $188 million in judgment awarded against him in 2006.

77. Marilyn Krusas, 69, a Gary City Councilwoman since 2000, was charged with one count of tax evasion. Federal authorities allege Krusas failed to file tax returns since 1991. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/feds-nab-nwi-officials-on-tax-fraud-other-charges/article_3fe970a9-3e39-53a9-a23f-56b43e98837a.html

In addition to failing to file returns, officials allege she failed to pay taxes on an inheritance she received in the 2009-2010 tax year. The inheritance was $230,000.Krusas was scheduled for her initial appearance at 12:45 today.

78. George Pabey, E. Chicago Mayor , convicted on stealing less than $15,000

79. Jose Camacho, East Chicago conviction along with Pabey.

80 & 81. The former treasurer for East Chicago's public schools will plead guilty to receiving a bribe — a federal offense that could carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Francisco "Frank" Ramirez, 49, of East Chicago, exchanged a school contract with a local construction company for thousands of dollars in free home repairs, according to a plea agreement filed Monday. Ramirez and Geraldo "Jerry" Lozano, 34, of Hobart, were indicted Thursday. The indictment was unsealed Friday. Lozano, who owned Green Tree Builders, is charged with paying a bribe to an agent or local government receiving federal funds, while Ramirez was charged with receiving that bribe. In 2008, East Chicago's schools received more than $10,000 in federal funding. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/east-chicago/former-e-c-school-treasurer-to-plead-guilty-to-accepting/article_a7eff7f7-583a-5f59-a47a-9fa2a4d9a8f8.html#ixzz1p2QVuXvM

Ramirez plead guilty. To receive the most benefit from his plea agreement, Ramirez must provide information that leads to a separate criminal prosecution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Bell said during the hearing. Lozano was convicted and received 21 months in a federal prison.http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/17391282-418/lozano-gets-21-months-for-bribery.html

82. Thomas Philpot, has held several county offices for 21 years, and currently the Lake County Coroner, was convicted on 08/24/12 after a 5 day trial. Philpot received a 18 month sentence. Some believe Philpot may have shared information with authorities in exchange for such a short sentence. Philpot was convicted of pocketed more than $24,000 from Indiana's federally funded child support incentive funds. He controlled the funds between 2004 and 2009 while serving as Lake County clerk. The fund were intended, as bonuses for line staff. Philpot and his two administrative assistants apparently pocketed the vast majority of these funds over the years Philpot held the County Clerk's Office. Philpot's education as a licensed attorney and medical doctor/podiatrist, appeared to work against him at trial.

The law forbids elected officials from giving themselves such bonuses without the approval of the seven-member fiscal body called the County Council.

The conviction strips Philpot from office as county coroner and all but ends his public career, which includes election as county coroner in 1992, 1996 and 2008; election as county clerk in 2002 and 2006; and his unsuccessful campaigns for Hammond mayor in 1995 and 1999, and for sheriff in 2010. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/philpot-guilty-on-all-five-counts/article_2ab1a901-230b-5114-8ebe-91b84326c1f3.html

83. Under investigation is Virlissa Crenshaw, a niece through marriage of Bernie Carter, Lake County's Prosecutor, used her position as a court clerk to allegedly pocket $310,000 in traffic court bond money over a span of five years. This was according to a State Board of Accounts audit for Merriville. September 2011.

84. The FBI raided George Van Till's Office in 2012 confiscating computer records. Mr. VanTil is the Lake County Surveyor. A Grand Jury has been chaired investigating some matter in his office. The specific focus of the grand jury is unknown.

85. Alfonso Salinas Hammond 2nd District councilman in Hammond, was charged with receipt of a bribe by an agent of local government who was receiving federal funds.

Federal authorities allege that Salinas steered city tree cutting business to David Johnson, 56, of Munster, owner of Dave’s Tree Service. (Note David Johnson was a benefactor of the East Chicago Sidewalks for vote scandal, his company reportedly did hundreds of thousands of dollars of work in E. Chicago. Some say either McDermott or Cantrell or both brought Johnson into Hammond to continue the patronage tree).

Salinas is alleged to have steered $300,000 in casino funds that he had at his disposal to Johnson's company for tree cutting and tree removal work. Federal authorities further allege Salinas took a $10,500 kickback for steering the work Johnson’s way. Johnson was charged with payment of a bribe to an agent of local government. (Johnson later plead guilty). Salinas is also charged with four counts of willful failure to file tax returns from 2006 to 2009.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

86. Juda Parks, 40, of East Chicago, is charged with two counts of failure to file income tax returns for years 2008 and 2009. Parks, and East Chicago City Councilman since 2008 and an East Chicago police officer, has signed a plea agreement admitting guilt on all charges.

Parks has agreed to cooperate with the federal government on other unspecified cases, according to federal authorities. (interesting statement) http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

87. Manuel Montalvo, 38, of East Chicago, is charged in an indictment with two counts of filing false tax returns for years 2009 and 2010. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

The indictment alleges that Montalvo, the former director of the East Chicago Public Library, overstated unreimbursed business expenses and medical and dental expenses. Those expenses amounted to $32,000 in medical and dental expenses and $47,000 in employee and business expenses over the two years.

88. Virlissa Crenshaw, 42, of East Chicago, is charged with theft from local government, with another count of filing a false tax return for 2009. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/feds-nab-nwi-officials-on-tax-fraud-other-charges/article_3fe970a9-3e39-53a9-a23f-56b43e98837a.html

Crenshaw was a clerk with the Merrillville Town Court at the time of the offenses. She has already signed a plea agreement filed today admitting her guilt to stealing cash bonds. The loss to the Town of Merrillville was $176,763 and the tax loss to the federal government was $55,203.

89. An unnamed county official reportedly has a sealed 2012 Grand Jury indictment.

Who do you think may be next?



Individuals and/or corporations named in the following links are presumed innocent unless a court of law finds otherwise.

_________________
XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


Last edited by justcallmetommy on Wed Feb 27, 2013 4:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:42 pm 
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A partial list of Lake County Politicians, influential power brokers, some who have been convicted, others under indictment. I will add to this list from time to time as info becomes available. :(

Sources include publications such as the Hammond Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Suntimes, Gary Tribune Post and other media sources.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_decbcc06-e795-5b8c-a43b-0036497fa9cd.html


CONVICTED unless otherwise indicated

1. R. O. Johnson, Mayor of Gary Johnson was convicted by the feds in 1923 of conspiracy to violate the Volstead Act. He began serving his sentence in 1925. President Calvin Coolidge, having sympathy for his plight, granted him a pardon after his release. He ran 2 more times, successfully, for mayor. Evidently the citizenry, not surprisingly, did not hold his conviction against him? http://gdynets.webng.com/Good_Gov.htm

2. Stephen R. Goot, a Hammond Attorney received a 20-year sentence, one of the stiffest given to the 16 people convicted in the Operation Bar Tab investigation of corruption in Lake County courts. Goot served as the Hammond water board lawyer until the federal investigation that led to his conviction on ticket fixing. (1991). http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/article_c9e38ff7-e7e9-5f94-a9de-dd4002bcd2b3.html

3. Nick Morfas. Goot as we have read above was convicted at federal trial. The principal official with whom Goot interacted and conspired was deputy prosecutor Nick Morfas. Goot pleaded not guilty and went to trial; Morfas pleaded guilty and testified against Goot.

Morfas would steal and destroy the prosecutor's file. Sometimes Morfas would steal and destroy the court's file as well. Once the time for refiling had passed without any further action taken by the prosecutor, Goot would file a second motion to dismiss, which would be granted. A check then would be issued by the prosecutor's office to Goot, the holder of the bond receipt, but payable to the person who initially posted the bond. Goot would give this check to Morfas who would forge the payee's signature and retain the funds as his share in the scheme.

In some cases, Morfas would represent himself to DUI defendants as an attorney, sign Goot's name to the paper work or have Goot sign his name, and then steal the files and collect the fees. Morfas needed to use Goot's name because he could not use his own, being a deputy prosecutor. As a quid pro quo, Morfas either would help Goot with one of Goot's cases or would pay Goot a share of the fees. http://federal-circuits.vlex.com/vid/america-plaintiff-stephen-goot-defendant-37294529

The jury found Goot guilty on both counts and he was sentenced to two concurrent twenty-year prison terms (the statutory maximum on each count) and a $25,000.00 fine. Morfas, who was sentenced later, got four years and a $6000.00 fine.

4. Metro Holovachke, former prosecuting attorney of Lake County, Indiana, all on tax charges. http://www.justice.gov/ag/rfkspeeches/1963/01-10-1963.pdf

5. George Chacharis, Mayor of Gary, Indiana, who in approximately 1963, pleaded guilty to charges that he failed to report and pay taxes on more than $250, 000 in payoffs from construction firms. http://www.justice.gov/ag/rfkspeeches/1963/01-10-1963.pdf

6. Unsolved Murder: Hammond detectives have no doubts about who fired the fatal bullet into the back of Henry "Babe" Lopez's neck in 1979. They said they know without question who dropped a basketball-sized rock onto the gas pedal of the former East Chicago parks superintendent's city-owned vehicle, propelling his dead body into the Grand Calumet River.
Yet, 30 years later, Lopez's family still lives without closure. "They believed Babe Lopez was cooperating with the federal government investigation into corruption in East Chicago," Solan told The Times. "Babe Lopez was not cooperating, and that belief cost Babe his life."

Dec. 12, 1979, the last day Lopez was seen alive Former City Clerk Charles Pacurar, now East Chicago's city controller, told Hammond police in 1980 that Lopez's death may have been related to $900,000 in Park and Recreation Bond funds.
In 1974, before Lopez was parks superintendent, the City Council moved $900,000 to park development line item 713 in the budget, records state. Pacurar told police that line item did not exist. The State Board of Accounts repeatedly questioned how the park bond money had been spent, state audits from 1977 to 1983 show. The board's field examiners asked then-City Controller James Knight to determine whether the funds had been used for the purpose for which the bonds were issued. As of Aug. 19, 1982, Knight had not replied, records state.

Numerous sources told police they believed Edelmiro "Corfi" DeJesus was involved in Lopez's death. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, and city and county authorities in Illinois and Indiana believed DeJesus was a mob assassin involved in numerous illegal activities, records state. DeJesus was shot and killed execution-style May 27, 1980 -- four months after Lopez's body was found. His death is still unsolved, East Chicago Police Chief Gus Flores said.
Summers said he believes DeJesus and his cronies were responsible for executing Lopez's murder. Then DeJesus was killed because he was mouthing off about killing Lopez, Summers added. Other sources contend the murder was drug-related.
But questions remained: Why was Lopez murdered? Who ordered the hit?

Summers recently told The Times the investigation into Lopez's murder "always pointed just straight in one direction" -- toward Vince Kirrin. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/article_3e42b286-61f5-593b-9f9c-f334a8a600be.html BTW, Hammond’s Mayor, Thomas McDermott Jr has refused to answer ask several questions asked by Indiana’s State Board of Accounts.

7. Unsolved Murder: East Chicago political insider Jay Given was shot , assignation style, attending a fund raiser for up and coming politician N. Atterson Spann, inside the vestibule of the Jockey Club. 30 years later, the case remains unsolved, but evidence points to a high-ranking former East Chicago police official who it’s alleged had a long term political beef with Givens. Interesting reading http://www.nwitimes.com/news/foreign-language/politico-given-murder-remains-unsolved-nearly-years-later/article_b6ddb22f-d8d7-5e20-b6a4-9ca7bbc4f50b.html
One woman, opted to spend 10 days in jail for contempt of court rather than cooperate fully with investigators. Investigators said they thought the Jockey Club worker was holding out important information. The woman felt like a "lost ball in tall weeds, ... (and) just wanted to forget that entire night," she told police. She had learned to see and not see, she said, because "in East Chicago, two people could be standing side-by-side, one could have his head blown off and the other would not have seen a thing."

8. John Nicosia, who served as East Chicago mayor from 1963 to 1971, was convicted in the late 1970s in connection with a $1 million sewer construction kickback scheme. http://www.indianabusinessnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=76&ArticleID=61424

9. Michael Jankovich, 76, of Hobart, former Lake County assessor and longtime local Democratic power: sentenced to prison for 6 years, fined $250,000 and ordered to forfeit $11,700 in bribe receipts, after pleading guilty to charges of racketeering and extortion in soliciting bribes from businessmen in return for cutting their tax bills. Approximately 1986.

10. Frank A.J. Stodola, 66, of Hammond, a former judge and county commissioner: sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for racketeering and extortion and ordered to forfeit $10,800 in bribe money, amid charges that he sold his commissioner`s office to the highest bidder. Approximately 1986.

11. Lake County Judge Orval Anderson, was convicted of perjury (1986) for his testimony at the trial of a court administrator. The conviction was associated with Operation Bar Tab. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-01-07/news/8601020398_1_indiana-judge-court-clerk-indiana-supreme-court

12. Former Lake County Sheriff Rudy Bartolomei was convicted of extortion while serving as sheriff in 1985. He entered the witness protection plan with his wife in about 1986. Interesting article by the Chicago Tribune on Bartolomei's rise to power and fall from political graces: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-11-13/features/8802160613_1_jail-lake-county-highest-bidder

13. Roland D. Watson, former deputy assessor of Calumet Township, which includes the city of Gary Watson, 37, of Gary, pled guilty of having conspired to share in bribes paid by businessmen to win tax breaks for their properties.

14. Carol Sinks, 42, an East Chicago woman, pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge James Clement. Sinks was fined $1,000 and given a one-year suspended jail sentence Tuesday after admitting her part in a ghost payroll scheme in Hammond.

Sinks and the late John Klobuchar, a former North Township trustee, were accused of theft, ghost employment and conspiracy in a scheme in which Klobuchar hired Sinks to manage the township`s Hammond office at a $20,500 salary while the woman was working full time for a construction company. It had been reported Klobuchar and Sinks were in a relationship. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-12-13/news/8903170714_1_sinks-scheme-ghost

Klobuchar died before the case went to trial, but Lake County Prosecutor Jon DeGuilio said the guilty plea gave ``credibility to our ghost-payrolling statute.`

15. Unsolved Murder: The bodies of a man and woman found burned in a car on Gary`s south side are believed to be those of a sheriff`s deputy and his wife, authorities said Monday. The deputy had been active in several federal investigations and was scheduled to testify in an upcoming federal racketeering trial. The victims are Cpl. Gary Rosser, 42, a 15-year veteran of the Lake County Sheriff`s Department, and his wife, Teresa.

Rosser was to testify in the trial of a Merrillville councilman and suspended sheriff`s officer who is accused of involvement in a shakedown racket. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-01-16/news/9001040803_1_bodies-sheriff-s-spokesman-police

16. Michael Mokol Sr, 48, a 19-year police veteran and former Merrillville town trustee, had been convicted of funneling $33,000 in bribes to former Lake County Sheriff Rudy Bartolomei, his political mentor. The payoffs in 1984 and 1985 came from Reginald P. Kinkade, an East Chicago distributor of video poker machines.

The money, in the form of political contributions, went to Sheriff Bartolomei through Mokol, buying protection from gambling raids. At the time the machines were operating legally in scores of taverns, clubs and fraternal halls in the county. Kinkade, however, paid bribes to police to avoid investigation, according to trial testimony.

Mokol was sentenced to 20 years in prison by U.S. District Judge James Moody, an angry federal judge who said society ``has a right to strike back`` at corrupt law officers. In sentencing Mokol for bribery, Moody said he was sending a message to the 190 sheriff`s police officers and 850 other law officers in local communities throughout the county that bribery is intolerable. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-07-27/news/9003030302_1_gambling-raids-police-officers-law-officers

17. Alan Frost, introduced to Hammond, believed by the McDermot Sr Administration. There had been a question on how Frost readily acquired the abandoned JC Pennies building on Hohman Avenue. Frost had the full blessing of the city to remodel an old store downtown for a computer school that was supposed to bring hundreds of jobs to Hammond. He eventually went to prison after being convicted in Florida for scamming the federal government on that venture.

18. Stewart Roth, Hammond Sanitary district Supt. admitted to illegally discharging untreated waste into the Grand Calumet River. Roth plead guilty in July of 1990. Roth faced a possible prison term of 20 years and a fine of $40,000.

Problems at the plant came to the forefront in 1988, after a growing stench at the plant was reported by north side residents and a 9-foot-deep . . .an``island`` of untreated human waste in the Grand Calumet was discovered by environmentalists; that unprocessed volume ``as enough to fill the Exxon Valdez 185 times.....the raw sewage was enough to cover Hammond`s approximately 25 square miles 30 inches deep.

The investigation found that Roth had reported that 30 billion gallons of sewage had been processed by the plant from Jan. 1, 1986, through May 31, 1988, when only 12 billion gallons were treated. Why he did this was never disclosed. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-07-14/news/9002270497_1_raw-sewage-sanitary-board-treatment-plant
Roth apparently didn't learn from his first go around.

In 2012 Roth plead guilty in Federal Court for illegal dumping. Unfortunately Roth and others operated, undiscovered for years and years, dumping untreated waste in Hammond sewage system at a company owned site at 141st St. Hammond authorities were apparently unaware this site was dumping illegal waste for years and years. It appears the city never inspected the site. So much for Hammond’s inspectional services. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/12254534-418/manager-at-ec-business-admits-illegal-dumping.html

18. Peter Benjamin, former Lake County auditor and assessor, paying bribes to Lake County Councilman Troy Montgomery.

19. Troy Montgomery, former Lake County councilman, accepting Benjamin's bribes.

20. & 21. Lake County Judge Steven Bielak, 34, pleaded guilty in Hammond before U.S. District Judge James Moody. Bielak, A traffic court judge in Lake County, Ind., and Robert Balitewicz, 49, a court clerk pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges arising from a federal investigation of the disposition of drunk driving cases in northwest Indiana. 1991

The two had been charged by a federal grand jury in a 28-count indictment in June 1986, for failing to notify the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles of drunk-driving convictions as required by state law. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-01-07/news/8601020398_1_indiana-judge-court-clerk-indiana-supreme-court http://www.justice.gov/osg/briefs/1989/sg890014.txt

22. Former Hammond City Controller Edward Brown, has pleaded guilty to income-tax charges and had cooperated with federal authorities. Brown, 42, was charged in April (1991) by the U.S. attorney's office for failure to report all his income for calendar year 1985.

June 1991, a full six years after his income tax evasion, Former city Controller Edward A. Brown implicated himself and others Thursday in a bribery scheme to protect video-poker gambling in Hammond. Brown, 42, of Hammond was pleading guilty before U.S. District Court Judge James Moody to a felony tax-fraud charge that he failed to disclose protection money he received from Reginald Kinkade.

He said Kinkade, owner of Variety Amusement Co. of East Chicago, gave him up to $4,000 each month from the fall of 1984 to the end of 1985 to keep police from seizing about 50 poker machines …

23. Vince Kirrin, an East known as a back-room politician who wielded immense influence over East Chicago and Lake County politics. Kirrin was indicted during a federal investigation into corruption in Lake County and served time in prison for conspiracy and mail fraud convictions. Kirrin died in 1998. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-07-20/news/9103210240_1_bribes-cleaning-tax-fraud

Kirrin said he used elbow grease to vigorously clean the Lake County (Ind.) government center, transforming the courthouse, jail and office building ``from a pigsty into a showpiece.`` 1985-86 contract, which went to a firm nominally headed by his nephew, Joe Macko.

Macko testified that his uncle surprised him with a gift of $2,000 only days before he was called to testify under subpoena about the cleaning contract before a federal grand jury. Capp said the money was a bribe. Macko admitted he had no experience cleaning public buildings, unless``GI parties in the military`` was a qualifier. He said he performed no executive duties, and had no office.

The government contended that, in order to get the contract, Kirrin paid $30,000 in bribes to Lake County Commissioner Steve Corey. Corey denied the charge, saying any money from Kirrin was nothing more than a loan to the his family`s bakery business, and the loan had been repaid.

Former County Commissioner N. Atterson Spann testified against Kirrin, saying he and Corey were aware of Kirrin`s behind-the-scenes role. Spann is serving a 30-year federal prison sentence for taking bribes to influence county business. He said he hoped his testimony would earn him a sentence reduction.

But a federal court jury in Hammond convicted the East Chicago businessman of paying bribes to win a $246,000-a-year, no-bid contract to clean the center. Kirrin wished to avoid the public spotlight, said Capp, because he already was receiving up to $660,000 a year in county printing business.

24. Noah Atterson Spann, 48, of East Chicago, the highest elected black county executive and a fellow county commissioner with Bartolomei: sentenced to 20 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, fined $25,000 and ordered to forfeit $29,615 in payoff money.

25. Rudy Byron, 51, of Gary, a Spann protégé and former Lake County inspector: sentenced to 9 years in prison and fined $15,000 for accepting payoffs to help two janitorial firms get lucrative county contracts and for concealing payments of $50,000 from his income-tax returns.

26. East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds, lying to the FBI.

27. East Chicago City Councilman Joe De La Cruz, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds.

28. East Chicago City Controller Edwardo Maldonado, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds. Convicted a second time in July 2006 for using public money to pay his defense attorneys.

29. East Chicago City Councilman Adrian Santos, pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the $24 million sidewalks-for-votes case.

30. Joel Markovich, former Lake County councilman and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

31. Robert J. Velligan, contractor, tax fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

32. Marilyn and Gregory J. Gill, contractors, tax and bankruptcy fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

33. Dimitrios Sazalis, contractor, tax fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

34. East Chicago Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr., fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

35. East Chicago City Engineer Pedro Porras, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

36. East Chicago City Councilman Randall Artis, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

37. Terrance Artis, brother of Randall Artis and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.

38. Gerry Nannenga, former carpenter's union official, accepting bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.

39. Kevin Pastrick, son of former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick, paying bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.

40. Peter Manous, former Indiana Democratic chairman, paying bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.

41. Carl Paul Ihle Jr., co-owner with Kevin Pastrick of Sand Creek Sales, forging documents and lying about the Coffee Creek land deal.

42. & 43. Katie Hall and Junifer Hall, In May 2002, Katie Hall, again serving as Gary City Clerk, and her daughter, Chief Deputy Clerk Junifer Hall, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, extortion, and mail fraud.

Junifer Hall was also charged with five counts of perjury. Hall eventually pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to house arrest and probation. Junifer Hall was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison. Gary city clerk, was convicted of extorting $19,000 in campaign contributions from office employees. Hall was Indiana's first African-American member of Congress. Someone in her office reached out to federal authorities asking for relief.


44. Jojuana Meeks, embezzling money from Gary Urban Enterprise Association. This embezzlement involved millions, upon millions of dollars, diverted from its original use to revitalize Gary for personal use. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Urban_Enterprise_Association

45. Wanda Joshua, convicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township.

46. Charmaine Pratchett, embezzling money from GUEA.

47. Derrick Earls, embezzling from GUEA board.

48. Johnnie Wright, embezzling from GUEA board.

49. Greg Hill, contractor who didn't report GUEA income.

50. Will Smith Jr., Lake County Council president, tax evasion for a questionable land deal with GUEA.

51. Roosevelt Powell, former delinquent tax collector for Lake County, tax evasion, theft conspiracies involving GUEA land deals.

52. Former East Chicago Police Chief Edward Samuels, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project.

53. East Chicago Building Commission Miguel "Mike" Arredondo, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project.

54. Gary City Parks Superintendent Kimberly Lyles, lying to federal agents about influence peddling.

55. Assistant County Building Administrator Jan Allison, extortion.

56. G. Gregory Cvitkovich, former North Township trustee, tax fraud.

57. James H. Fife III, a former special assistant to the East Chicago mayor, federal tax fraud.

58. Karen Krahn-Fife, federal tax fraud.

59. Robert White, Gary city councilman, fraud.

60. Lake County Recorder Morris Carter, extortion.

61. Paul Hernandez, union fraud and corruption.

62. Ken Castaldi, union fraud and corruption.

63. Otho Lyles III, tax evasion and lying to FBI in Gary City Hall investigation.

64. Jewell Harris Sr Convicted of double-billing Gary for debris-hauling work at The Steel Yard stadium. Harris was once one of the most powerful political figures in Gary. Harris, former Mayor Scott King’s campaign manager until the two had a bitter split, had been charged with seven counts of money laundering and mail and wire fraud stemming from work Harris did hauling debris from the stadium site in 2001. Convicted that he bilked the city out of $1.5 million while working on the $45 million baseball stadium.

65. Willie Harris, Gary attorney, tax evasion, theft conspiracies involving GUEA land deals.

66. Bob Cantrell , a long time East Chicago political operative. Cantrell was reportedly behind McDermott Sr first run for Hammond Mayor, was convicted of tax evasion and insurance fraud. Cantrell used his influence with area elected officials, judges., etc to obtain contracts for a counseling company owned and operated by Nancy Fromm. Cantrell's income was reported in federal transcripts to be over $200,000 a year. Who says crime doesn't pay?

67. Nancy Fromm, addiction counselor, lying to federal agents. Fromm reportedly derived substantial income for referrals tor her company, due to Bobby Cantrell's political connections.

68. Former Schererville Town Judge Deborah Riga, fraud in using office to personally benefit her family business.

69. Ann Marie Karras , age 65 of Gary, guilty in April 2009 of two fraud counts for taking checks from a federal contract between 2000 and 2002. (Seven Years Later ) Karras was serving as Calumet Township as the Deputy of Finance.

Co-conspirators Calumet Township Trustee, Dozier T. Allen, Jr., and three of his senior employees at the trustee’s office, Wanda Joshua, and Albert Young, Jr. were charged and found guilty of mail fraud. http://www.justice.gov/usao/inn/press_release/documents/2007/September_07/DAllen_9.20-indicted.htm

70. Dozier Allen, Calumet Township Trustee, convicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township, found guilty.

71. Albert Young Jr., who signed a plea agreement and admitted guilt, to two years on probation, convicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township. http://www.justice.gov/usao/inn/press_release/documents/2007/September_07/DAllen_9.20-indicted.htm

72. Morris Carter, County Recorder took a $1,000 bribe. http://articles.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010-08-25/news/28516846_1_schererville-town-judge-east-chicago-city-council-robert-pastrick

73. Jerry Haymon has plead guilty, per court records, a year after their indictment on on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The defendants (Drago-Hunter, Jerry Haymon, Sheila Chandler and Phillip Rucker) were indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft accused of funneling the more than $300,000 to themselves between October 2007 and November 2008 by inflating the purchase prices of four Gary properties, faking buyers' financial security, forging loan documents and filing fake mechanic's liens against three of the four properties for work that never was done, federal records state.http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/former-gary-city-official-nearing-plea-deal-in-federal-fraud/article_8002b627-2f2e-5032-8cfa-c8148cd40e08.html

74. Jacquelyn Drago-Hunter, Gary HUD Official, October 6, 2011 was suspended for her October 2010 federal indictment for her suspected involvement in an alleged real estate fraud scheme. Drago-Hunter is responsible for administering millions of dollars of federal money to dozens of social service agencies. The former director of community development for the city of Gary admitted Friday morning (01/13/2011) in federal court to working with a local businessman in a mortgage fraud scheme that took in almost $200,000. Jacquelyn Drago-Hunter plead guilty to one count of wire fraud.http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/9993779-418/former-gary-official-pleads-guilty-to-mortgage-scheme.html

HUD spokesman Jerry Brown said. “Gary has to help itself by cleaning up its act. It’s going to take that type of commitment in building its track record if the city is going to continue getting federal funds.”
April 19th, 2012 sentenced to spend 15 months in prison in addition to paying restitution of almost $88,000, a federal judge ruled Thursday afternoon.

75. Sheila Chandler has plead guilty, per court records, a year after her indictment on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/former-gary-city-official-nearing-plea-deal-in-federal-fraud/article_8002b627-2f2e-5032-8cfa-c8148cd40e08.html

76. Frederick M. Cuppy, 70, Merrillville’s former town attorney and Peter G. Rogan, 65, formerly of Valparaiso, were charged October 3rd, 2011 in Chicago in connection with their roles in hiding money from federal investigators and a bank, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago. Cuppy was charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, three counts of perjury and three counts of obstruction of justice. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/8018706-418/former-merrillville-attorney-indicted-by-feds.html
Cuppy is accused of hiding funds so that Rogan could avoid paying $188 million in judgment awarded against him in 2006.

77. Marilyn Krusas, 69, a Gary City Councilwoman since 2000, was charged with one count of tax evasion. Federal authorities allege Krusas failed to file tax returns since 1991. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/feds-nab-nwi-officials-on-tax-fraud-other-charges/article_3fe970a9-3e39-53a9-a23f-56b43e98837a.html

In addition to failing to file returns, officials allege she failed to pay taxes on an inheritance she received in the 2009-2010 tax year. The inheritance was $230,000.Krusas was scheduled for her initial appearance at 12:45 today.

78. George Pabey, E. Chicago Mayor , convicted on stealing less than $15,000

79. Jose Camacho, East Chicago conviction along with Pabey.

80 & 81. The former treasurer for East Chicago's public schools will plead guilty to receiving a bribe — a federal offense that could carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Francisco "Frank" Ramirez, 49, of East Chicago, exchanged a school contract with a local construction company for thousands of dollars in free home repairs, according to a plea agreement filed Monday. Ramirez and Geraldo "Jerry" Lozano, 34, of Hobart, were indicted Thursday. The indictment was unsealed Friday. Lozano, who owned Green Tree Builders, is charged with paying a bribe to an agent or local government receiving federal funds, while Ramirez was charged with receiving that bribe. In 2008, East Chicago's schools received more than $10,000 in federal funding. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/east-chicago/former-e-c-school-treasurer-to-plead-guilty-to-accepting/article_a7eff7f7-583a-5f59-a47a-9fa2a4d9a8f8.html#ixzz1p2QVuXvM

Ramirez plead guilty. To receive the most benefit from his plea agreement, Ramirez must provide information that leads to a separate criminal prosecution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Bell said during the hearing. Lozano was convicted and received 21 months in a federal prison.http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/17391282-418/lozano-gets-21-months-for-bribery.html

82. Thomas Philpot, has held several county offices for 21 years, and currently the Lake County Coroner, was convicted on 08/24/12 after a 5 day trial. Philpot received a 18 month sentence. Some believe Philpot may have shared information with authorities in exchange for such a short sentence. Philpot was convicted of pocketed more than $24,000 from Indiana's federally funded child support incentive funds. He controlled the funds between 2004 and 2009 while serving as Lake County clerk. The fund were intended, as bonuses for line staff. Philpot and his two administrative assistants apparently pocketed the vast majority of these funds over the years Philpot held the County Clerk's Office. Philpot's education as a licensed attorney and medical doctor/podiatrist, appeared to work against him at trial.

The law forbids elected officials from giving themselves such bonuses without the approval of the seven-member fiscal body called the County Council.

The conviction strips Philpot from office as county coroner and all but ends his public career, which includes election as county coroner in 1992, 1996 and 2008; election as county clerk in 2002 and 2006; and his unsuccessful campaigns for Hammond mayor in 1995 and 1999, and for sheriff in 2010. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/philpot-guilty-on-all-five-counts/article_2ab1a901-230b-5114-8ebe-91b84326c1f3.html

83. Under investigation is Virlissa Crenshaw, a niece through marriage of Bernie Carter, Lake County's Prosecutor, used her position as a court clerk to allegedly pocket $310,000 in traffic court bond money over a span of five years. This was according to a State Board of Accounts audit for Merriville. September 2011.

84. The FBI raided George Van Till's Office in 2012 confiscating computer records. Mr. VanTil is the Lake County Surveyor. A Grand Jury has been chaired investigating some matter in his office. The specific focus of the grand jury is unknown.

85. Alfonso Salinas Hammond 2nd District councilman in Hammond, was charged with receipt of a bribe by an agent of local government who was receiving federal funds.

Federal authorities allege that Salinas steered city tree cutting business to David Johnson, 56, of Munster, owner of Dave’s Tree Service. (Note David Johnson was a benefactor of the East Chicago Sidewalks for vote scandal, his company reportedly did hundreds of thousands of dollars of work in E. Chicago. Some say either McDermott or Cantrell or both brought Johnson into Hammond to continue the patronage tree).

Salinas is alleged to have steered $300,000 in casino funds that he had at his disposal to Johnson's company for tree cutting and tree removal work. Federal authorities further allege Salinas took a $10,500 kickback for steering the work Johnson’s way. Johnson was charged with payment of a bribe to an agent of local government. (Johnson later plead guilty). Salinas is also charged with four counts of willful failure to file tax returns from 2006 to 2009.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

86. Juda Parks, 40, of East Chicago, is charged with two counts of failure to file income tax returns for years 2008 and 2009. Parks, and East Chicago City Councilman since 2008 and an East Chicago police officer, has signed a plea agreement admitting guilt on all charges.

Parks has agreed to cooperate with the federal government on other unspecified cases, according to federal authorities. (interesting statement) http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

87. Manuel Montalvo, 38, of East Chicago, is charged in an indictment with two counts of filing false tax returns for years 2009 and 2010. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

The indictment alleges that Montalvo, the former director of the East Chicago Public Library, overstated unreimbursed business expenses and medical and dental expenses. Those expenses amounted to $32,000 in medical and dental expenses and $47,000 in employee and business expenses over the two years.

88. Virlissa Crenshaw, 42, of East Chicago, is charged with theft from local government, with another count of filing a false tax return for 2009. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/feds-nab-nwi-officials-on-tax-fraud-other-charges/article_3fe970a9-3e39-53a9-a23f-56b43e98837a.html

Crenshaw was a clerk with the Merrillville Town Court at the time of the offenses. She has already signed a plea agreement filed today admitting her guilt to stealing cash bonds. The loss to the Town of Merrillville was $176,763 and the tax loss to the federal government was $55,203.

89. An unnamed county official reportedly has a sealed 2012 Grand Jury indictment.

Who do you think may be next?



Individuals and/or corporations named in the following links are presumed innocent unless a court of law finds otherwise.

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XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


Last edited by justcallmetommy on Wed Feb 27, 2013 4:45 pm, edited 7 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 4:59 pm 
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I can't wait for the "meat" and "potatoes"....cos' I can make excellent gravy. :wink: :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:31 am 
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from time to time I come across articles that highlight NWI's political acumen. posted for your reading pleasure.



Quote:
Indiana Corruption Witness Breaks Down In Tears

May 05, 1990|By John O`Brien.

A key government witness in a corruption trial involving a member of the Lake County, Ind., sheriff`s office broke down in sobs on the witness stand Friday, saying he has lost confidence with authorities in the case.

``I don`t know who the bad guys are,`` blurted the witness, former FBI confidential informant Timothy ``Geno`` Janowsky, a Merrillville, Ind., vending machine distributor.

Janowsky, 41, was called as a final prosecution witness in the gambling conspiracy trial of Lake County Sheriff`s Sgt. Michael Mokol Sr. and Reginald Kinkade, owner of Variety Amusement Co., East Chicago. They are on trial before a jury in Hammond federal court, charged with promoting gambling and bribe-taking in connection with the placement of video poker machines in taverns throughout Lake County.

Janowsky was called to the stand by Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Thill, ostensibly to identify a series of recordings that he secretly made in 1984 and 1985 with Kinkade, Mokol and others.

But instead of answering questions, Janowsky expressed a loss of memory or asked questions, hoping, he said, to clarify what was expected of him as a witness.

At one point, Janowsky complained that, ``The feds were pushing too hard`` to have him obtain incriminating evidence as an informant from Mokol and Kinkade. He also acknowledged he had filed a $500,000 damage suit against the FBI, alleging that agents failed to come through on promises in return for his cooperation. The suit was dismissed last year by U.S. District Judge James Moody, who is presiding at the corruption trial.

Janowsky indicated he continued to work as an FBI informant, despite differences with agents, because they had told him that he was marked for death and had become a number on ``a hit list.``

In one of the tape recordings played Friday, Janowsky was heard questioning Kinkade about the identities of mob figures in apparent control of extortion rackets. When Kinkade did not reply, Janowsky was heard saying,

``Reg, he (Mokol) is in law enforcement. He`s been up there.`` Kinkade replied that he and Janowsky would have to discuss the matter later.

Janowsky`s composure failed on the witness stand after he acknowledged he had tried unsuccessfully to settle his differences at a meeting with Justice Department officials.


http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-05-05/news/9002060204_1_corruption-trial-witness-informant

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XMPT wrote in Dermott Minions now stating No Sweet House? Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:04 am. Hammonite you might want to say a prayer to your God for freetime. She got back what she dished out.


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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:14 pm 
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I guess you see some relevance there somewhere, but you would.


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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:58 pm 
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xmpt wrote:
I guess you see some relevance there somewhere, but you would.


Would YOU happen to see any ? in dumpsters? :mrgreen:

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