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 Post subject: Re: 78 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:15 am 
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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

Not directly related to the above piece, Hammond’s Mayor, Thomas McDermott Jr, in recent Indiana State Board of Account Audits, has refused to answer several questions asked by Auditors.

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 Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:48 am, edited 5 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: 89 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:58 am 
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There is a lot more crooked politicians who should be on that list ! I guess we all have to have some patience. :twisted:


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 Post subject: Re: 89 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 3:41 pm 
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Tiger1 wrote:
There is a lot more crooked politicians who should be on that list ! I guess we all have to have some patience. :twisted:



More are sure to come, no doubt. If a bet was placed, it would be easy money more Hammond participation will be on the list.

For the most part it is in chronological order, if you read the history, it's amazing, just amazing to read inferences.

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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: 89 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:59 am 
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Quote:
Who do you think may be next?


Roy? :shock: :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: 89 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
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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

Not directly related to the above piece, Hammond’s Mayor, Thomas McDermott Jr, in recent Indiana State Board of Account Audits, has refused to answer several questions asked by Auditors.

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. Dr. 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

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

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

21. & 22. 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

23. 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 …

24. Glenn Kuipers, a former executive director of East Chicago's Tri-City Mental Health Center, and Noah Atterson Spann, a former county commissioner from the city, were indicted in the late 1980s for bribery and bilking taxpayers in connection with publicly buying an East Chicago nursing home at an exorbitant price.

Kuipers and his wife entered the federal witness protection program after he pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Spann, who went to prison in 1988. He finished his sentence 11 years later, was hired by former Mayor Robert Pastrick to run his 1999 re-election campaign and later was named director of community services.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds, lying to the FBI. Frankie chose to flee to Greece. As a Greek national Frankie is exempt from extradition by Greece law. 11 years.

29. East Chicago City Councilman Joe De La Cruz, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds. 6 years.

30. 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. 130 months.



31. East Chicago City Councilman Adrian Santos, pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the $24 million sidewalks-for-votes case. 33 months.

32. Joel Markovich, former Lake County councilman and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 18 months.

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

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

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

36. East Chicago Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr., fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 33 months.

37. East Chicago City Engineer Pedro Porras, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 27 months.

38. East Chicago City Councilman Randall Artis, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 27 months.

39. Terrance Artis, brother of Randall Artis and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 5 months.

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

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

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

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

44. & 45. 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.

46. 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

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

48. Charmaine Pratchett, embezzling money from GUEA.

49. Derrick Earls, embezzling from GUEA board.

50. Johnnie Wright, embezzling from GUEA board.

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

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

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

54. Former East Chicago Police Chief Edward Samuels, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project. Placed on probation.

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

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

57. Assistant County Building Administrator Jan Allison, extortion.

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

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

60. Karen Krahn-Fife, federal tax fraud.

61. Robert White, Gary city councilman, fraud.

62. Lake County Recorder Morris Carter, extortion.

63. Paul Hernandez, union fraud and corruption.

64. Ken Castaldi, union fraud and corruption.

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

66. 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.

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

68. 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?

69. 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.

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

71. 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

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

73. 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

74. 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

75. 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

76. 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.

77. 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

78. 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.

79. 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. Krusas plead guilty March 2013.

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

81. Jose Camacho, East Chicago city employee conviction along with Pabey.

82. & 83. 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

84. 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.

Philpot turned himself in to serve his reduced sentence of 18 months on Tuesday, March 19th, 2013. Was someone talking and someone else listening? http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/philpot-guilty-on-all-five-counts/article_2ab1a901-230b-5114-8ebe-91b84326c1f3.html

85. 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.

86. 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.

87. 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. Salinas agreed to a plea agreement on two counts April 2013.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

88. 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

89. 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.

90. Virlissa Crenshaw, 42, of East Chicago, is charged with theft from local government, with another count of filing a false tax return for 2009. Sentence to be determined. 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.

91. An unnamed current sitting, elected county official reportedly has a sealed 2012 Grand Jury indictment.

92. And is a current grand jury been empaneled to review if sufficient evidence exist to charge a past county elected official?


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 Mon Apr 22, 2013 6:17 am, edited 5 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: 89 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 5:10 am 
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Political corruption not limited to Chicago or Illinois
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Political corruption not limited to Chicago or Illinois
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Illustration by DAVID MOSELE

May 16, 2011 12:00 am • By Andy Shaw

Ever since venerated East Coast writer A.J. Liebling foisted the condescending label "Second City" on Chicago more than half a century ago, ignoring our preference for "Windy City," Chicago's political and civic leaders have done everything possible to shed Liebling's pejorative put-down by scrambling for a "first this," a "biggest that," a "best" whatever. The most obvious example is probably the Sears (now Willis) Tower, which enjoyed the "World's Tallest Building" moniker for years until the record was broken by skyscrapers in other countries.

Chicago earned another ignominious but sadly appropriate epithet years ago as "America's Most Corrupt City," gleaned from a history that includes mobster Al Capone and his lackey, Mayor William "Big Bill" Thompson; the so-called "Lords of the Levee," pimp politicians "Bathhouse John" Coughlin and "Hinky Dink" McKenna; Alderman Paddy "Chicago ain't ready for reform" Bauler; the first Mayor Daley, who made the quaint saying "vote early and often" a stark reality by facilitating the dubious razor-thin Illinois victory that carried John Kennedy to the presidency in 1960; and an endless succession of pols who traded their fancy threads for federal prison jumpsuits.

Measuring corruption is an inexact science that's part conviction stats and part public perception, so other cities gave Chicago a run for its money over the years, including Newark, New Orleans, New York, Boston and Miami.

But I got a real shock recently from an article on corruption in Lake County, Northwest Indiana's answer to "Crook"—I mean Cook—County, and found that, on a per capita basis, Lake County prosecutors send 3-1/2 crooked pols to jail for every wayward public official sent to the slammer in Cook. The story also related a comment Robert Kennedy supposedly made in 1962, when he was brother Jack's Attorney General, that Lake was the "most corrupt [county] in the nation."

Corruption "is probably worse in Lake County than Chicago," according to former prosecutor G. Robert Blakey, who wrote the racketeering statutes for Kennedy's Justice Department and helped draft a lawsuit charging former East Chicago mayor Robert Pastrick and 24 codefendants with running the city as a "criminal enterprise."

Pastrick's successor, George Pabey, was indicted for political corruption last year, validating the aphorism that "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

Gary attorney Greg Reising says that in a one-party (Democratic) county like Lake, "you don't have constituents, you have friends. And you take care of your friends."

The article annoyed Schererville attorney Calvin Bellamy, president of the Shared Ethics Advisory Committee, an all-volunteer agency that provides ethics training to public employees in five Lake County communities—Crown Point, Highland, Munster, Schererville and Whiting. They've developed a Shared Ethics Code that spells out the principles of ethical government behavior in a manual that's used in training sessions of 45 minutes to two hours.

"Our multi-community approach is unique," Bellamy says. "It's essential to establishing an ethical culture in our area. We would rather try than simply fret about the problem."

The goal is to eventually train all 1,037 public employees in the five communities on the principles of a government that's run for the benefit of the public, not the public officials. That's music to my ears, now that I've traded in my political reporter's hat for an advocate's soapbox at the Better Government Association, an anti-corruption watchdog group in Chicago. Our mantra is that "We're Watching—we're shining a light on government and holding public officials accountable."

The effort is beginning to make a difference. Cook County elected reform-minded Toni Preckwinkle as its president last fall, and Chicago chose a new mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who's endorsed an ethics agenda that sounds like our BGA mission statement.

Reform is also wafting into Northwest Indiana, according to a survey by Bellamy's group of several hundred public employees who've received ethics training since '05. Nearly twice as many are now aware of the advisory council's ethics code, and nearly three times as many understand how to report a colleague's questionable conduct, which is a key to elevating public sector behavior.

Bellamy's commission partners invited me to their ethics conference in Merrillville in early March, where I told the group it's intolerable for public officials to treat our hard-earned tax dollars like it's their money, and the way to change a "culture of corruption" that's unaffordable financially and morally is through transparency, widespread civic engagement and forceful public advocacy. Preach, teach and reach.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis put it best nearly a century ago when he said, "Sunshine is the best disinfectant." You can't assess or change what you can't see.

Better government is our right, it's their responsibility, and if we keep holding public officials' feet to the fire, we can make it reality. That would be a "Number 1" to be proud of in Cook or Lake County.

http://www.nwitimes.com/niche/shore/environment/political-corruption-not-limited-to-chicago-or-illinois/article_994fa4bd-77e6-5dcc-b96f-7d40b6c85974.html



3 1/2x the number of Lake County Politicians sent to jail. Impressive title!

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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: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2013 5:37 pm 
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U.S. attorney plans Friday announcement in public corruption probe

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/u-s-attorney-plans-friday-announcement-in-public-corruption-probe/article_ef23e4ce-a724-52d1-9396-bc6a53eb9b85.html

U.S. attorney plans Friday announcement in public corruption probe
Print Email May 16th, 2013
11 minutes ago • By Times Staff

HAMMOND | A news conference scheduled for Friday will announce "several matters" relating to public corruption, the Hammond-based U.S. attorney reported Thursday.

Federal prosecutors announced no other details and did not confirm who or how many individuals may be encompassed in the 2 p.m. Friday announcement.

Such news conferences have become somewhat common in recent years, with more than 60 people being indicted by federal authorities in Northwest Indiana public corruption probes since 1985.

Go to nwi.com at 2 p.m. Friday for live coverage of the news conference.





I just love Lake County, there always is so much hope!

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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: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 1:50 pm 
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Add George Vantil.


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 Post subject: Re: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 5:02 pm 
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http://youtu.be/qphJKtY041c

Roman Perez, of Roman Arts INc in crown point plead guilty.... this guy did $80k of business in 2007 with the Lake County Sheriff, paid from the Commissary Fund.

Roman failed to report over $100k in income of which $80k was paid from the commissary fund.

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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: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 5:06 pm 
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http://youtu.be/a_SxbMDD2RQ


Now Georgie VanTill may be an inside guy and maybe, just maybe might be able to shed some light on da boys.

Who knows?

More important who is next!

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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: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 6:25 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

Not directly related to the above piece, Hammond’s Mayor, Thomas McDermott Jr, in recent Indiana State Board of Account Audits, has refused to answer several questions asked by Auditors.

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. Dr. 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

On January 22, 1990, Magistrate Andrew P. Rodovich entered an order revoking Mokol's bond and detaining him pending trial as he found "there is probable cause to believe that Mr. Mokol was involved in the deaths of the Rossers [Rosser's wife also was murdered] in violation of the terms and conditions of his release." http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/939/436/31728/

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

As another side note, found in a blog, http://bluecountyredstate.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-problems-at-lake-county-sheriffs.html is a very vivid, although not verifiable description of how Gary Rosser, 42, a 15-year veteran of the Lake County Sheriff`s Department, and his wife, Teresa, his wife may have met their death. My bet Mokol Jr may have been involved.

Per an Anonymous poster, posting on Buzzcut's blog writes:
Buzz,

Let me share with you and your readers on how horrible the crime that was committed on Gary & Teresa Rosser.

Gary was part of the investigation of “Operation Lights Out.” This was Officer Gary Rosser’s third or fourth secret operation into the corruption in Lake County. It is also the one he feared the most for his safety, and for good reasons.

Officer Gary Rosser was set to testify against, SGT. Mike Mokol Sr. (a Merrillville councilman who at one time was chief of the sheriff`s police) Unbeknownst Officer Gary Rosser, Mike Mokol Sr. had taken a contract hit out on his life for $10,000.

Officer Rosser was lured into a false real estate deal by his so called friend, George Swetkey (see immediate posting below), who was paid by Mike Mokol Sr. to do the deadly deed.

First they kidnapped Gary’s wife Teresa. They beat her, they raped her and they took pictures of what they did to her.

They then set up a meeting at the Red Rooster restaurant with Officer Rosser. They told Officer Rosser that they had beaten his wife and if he didn’t leave peacefully, they would order her killed.

When they got Officer Rosser to the location where his wife, Teresa was, Officer Rosser tried to fight them off. He was beaten; stabbed; cuffed (both arms and legs) and they tied a noose over his neck to choke him. When this didn’t kill him they shot him several times.

They then stuffed Officer Rosser and his wife into the car in which they would be found. When they set the car on fire, Officer Gary Rosser was still alive. His lungs had smoke inhalation.

Gary left behind two children, his mother Ruby, died six months later of a broken heart.

Teresa had three children, who a year later became orphans after losing their father (Teresa’s first husband) to a heart attack at age 33, which many attributed to the stress of this situation.

And to think that 21 years later, the Lake County Sheriff’s department is being investigated for the same issues that destroyed the Rosser family…When will the citizens of this county stand up and quit supporting these criminal thugs!
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/939/436/31728/
http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/939/939.F2d.436.90-1777.html

16a. Calling the crime ``well-planned executions,`` an Indiana judge sentenced confessed slayer George Swetkey to 110 years in prison Friday for the murders of a Lake County sheriff`s police officer and his wife.

``Any thought I have that he might somehow walk the streets again makes me shudder,`` said Judge James Letsinger of Lake County Superior Court, Crown Point, when he imposed the near-maximum prison terms for double murder. `This sentence is intended to see that he doesn`t.``

Swetkey, for his part, stood mute. ``I haven`t anything to say,`` he muttered softly.Calling the crime ``well-planned executions,`` an Indiana judge sentenced confessed slayer George Swetkey to 110 years in prison Friday for the murders of a Lake County sheriff`s police officer and his wife. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-08-25/news/9003110650_1_inherently-evil-person-murders-sentence

16b. As a interesting side note, Mike Mokol Jr., was very much like his father. Mokol Jr. - the serially arrested son of late Merrillville Town Councilman and Lake County Police Chief Michael Mokol Sr. Mokol Sr., was convicted in 1990 of federal racketeering and illegal gambling charges for taking money to provide police protection for illegal gambling operations. Molok Jr, a, convicted felon -- was sentenced to 262 months in prison and five years of supervised release. May 2010. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/3f068990-2d53-5b33-8824-ff231ebd1268.html

Mokol Jr., a convicted felon with a criminal history spanning three states, is charged in the federal case with three counts of possessing specific handguns and ammunition after his criminal convictions and one count of using a specific gun during a drug trafficking crime. Prosecutors claim he orchestrated burglaries that yielded the guns. He is specifically charged with possessing a 9-mm handgun and a .45-caliber handgun.

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 Hammond Officials 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

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

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

21. & 22. 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

23. 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 …

24. Glenn Kuipers, a former executive director of East Chicago's Tri-City Mental Health Center, and Noah Atterson Spann, a former county commissioner from the city, were indicted in the late 1980s for bribery and bilking taxpayers in connection with publicly buying an East Chicago nursing home at an exorbitant price.

Kuipers and his wife entered the federal witness protection program after he pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Spann, who went to prison in 1988. He finished his sentence 11 years later, was hired by former Mayor Robert Pastrick to run his 1999 re-election campaign and later was named director of community services.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds, lying to the FBI. Frankie chose to flee to Greece. As a Greek national Frankie is exempt from extradition by Greece law. 11 years.

29. East Chicago City Councilman Joe De La Cruz, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds. 6 years.

30. 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. 130 months.

31. East Chicago City Councilman Adrian Santos, pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the $24 million sidewalks-for-votes case. 33 months.

32. Joel Markovich, former Lake County councilman and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 18 months.

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

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

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

36. East Chicago Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr., fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 33 months.

37. East Chicago City Engineer Pedro Porras, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 27 months.

38. East Chicago City Councilman Randall Artis, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 27 months.

39. Terrance Artis, brother of Randall Artis and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 5 months.

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

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

On May 2, 2005. Pastrick began serving his federal prison term for paying Gerry Nannenga, a former executive secretary and business manager for the Northwest Indiana District Council of Carpenters, bribes to influence the investment of $10 million of carpenters' pension money in Coffee Creek, a Porter County land deal that earned Pastrick $600,000 in commissions.

Nannenga pleaded guilty to accepting bribes last year and awaits sentencing April 8. Peter Manous, a former chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party and friend of Pastrick, is serving a 27-month sentence for his role as a go-between in the bribery and its cover-up.

A federal jury convicted Kevin Pastrick's business partner, 58-year-old Carl Paul Ihle Jr., of Lakes of the Four Seasons, of attempting to cover up the bribery investigation with lies and fraudulent documents. A judge sentenced him to 21 months in prison.

Pastrick also must pay a $177,500 fine in the federal case. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/pastrick-prostitution-charge-dropped/article_03ac73bf-2e76-5972-a1a9-acab8ba9e36f.html

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

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

44. & 45. 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.

46. 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. A common theme in NWI. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Urban_Enterprise_Association

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

48. Charmaine Pratchett, embezzling money from GUEA.

49. Derrick Earls, embezzling from GUEA board.

50. Johnnie Wright, embezzling from GUEA board.

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

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

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

54. Former East Chicago Police Chief Edward Samuels, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project. Placed on probation.

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

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

57. Assistant County Building Administrator Jan Allison, extortion.

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

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

60. Karen Krahn-Fife, federal tax fraud.

61. Robert White, Gary city councilman, fraud.

62. Lake County Recorder Morris Carter, extortion.

63. Paul Hernandez, union fraud and corruption.

64. Ken Castaldi, union fraud and corruption.

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

66. 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.

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

68. 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?

69. 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.

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

71. 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

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

73. 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

74. 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

75. 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

76. 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.

77. 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

78. 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.

79. 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. Krusas plead guilty March 2013.

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

81. Jose Camacho, East Chicago city employee conviction along with Pabey.

82. & 83. 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

84. 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.

Philpot turned himself in to serve his reduced sentence of 18 months on Tuesday, March 19th, 2013. Was someone talking and someone else listening? http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/philpot-guilty-on-all-five-counts/article_2ab1a901-230b-5114-8ebe-91b84326c1f3.html

85. Virlissa Crenshaw, 42, of East Chicago, is charged with theft (September 2011) from local government, with another count of filing a false tax return for 2009. Sentence to be determined. 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 (October 2012) 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.

86. 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.

The raid resulted in a criminal indictment (May 17th, 2013), two counts of obstruction of justice and six federal felony counts of wire fraud. A "tip" lead the authorities to the investigation. It's alleged VanTill hatched the plot between November '07 and December '12. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/feds-van-til-indicted-for-using-public-employees-resources-for/article_00f8f717-4dd4-5856-8869-eebc1c121d80.html

Video of the indictment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_SxbMDD2RQ

87. 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. Salinas agreed to a plea agreement on two counts April 2013.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

Salinas plead guilty in mid May 2013.

88. 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

89. 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.

90. Although not specifically a county employee, Roman Perez of Crown Point and owner of Roman Art, Inc. has plead guilty to tax evasion and making false statements under oath during a bankruptcy proceeding. Perez understated $100,100 of 2007 income, of which the feds report $80,000 of 2007 income came from the Lake County Commissary Fund. Exactly what "Roman Art, Inc." did or does will be posted at a later time.

Perez as part of his plea agreement, agreed to cooperate in an ongoing investigation.

Video of Indictment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qphJKtY041c

91. An unnamed current sitting, elected county official reportedly has a sealed 2012 Grand Jury indictment.

92. And has a current grand jury been empaneled to review if sufficient evidence exist to charge a past county elected official?


Who do you think may be next?



Individuals and/or corporations named in the above 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 Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:53 am 
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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

Not directly related to the above piece, Hammond’s Mayor, Thomas McDermott Jr, in recent Indiana State Board of Account Audits, has refused to answer several questions asked by Auditors.

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. Dr. 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

On January 22, 1990, Magistrate Andrew P. Rodovich entered an order revoking Mokol's bond and detaining him pending trial as he found "there is probable cause to believe that Mr. Mokol was involved in the deaths of the Rossers [Rosser's wife also was murdered] in violation of the terms and conditions of his release." http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/939/436/31728/

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

As another side note, found in a blog, http://bluecountyredstate.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-problems-at-lake-county-sheriffs.html is a very vivid, although not verifiable description of how Gary Rosser, 42, a 15-year veteran of the Lake County Sheriff`s Department, and his wife, Teresa, his wife may have met their death. My bet Mokol Jr may have been involved.

Per an Anonymous poster, posting on Buzzcut's blog writes:
Buzz,

Let me share with you and your readers on how horrible the crime that was committed on Gary & Teresa Rosser.

Gary was part of the investigation of “Operation Lights Out.” This was Officer Gary Rosser’s third or fourth secret operation into the corruption in Lake County. It is also the one he feared the most for his safety, and for good reasons.

Officer Gary Rosser was set to testify against, SGT. Mike Mokol Sr. (a Merrillville councilman who at one time was chief of the sheriff`s police) Unbeknownst Officer Gary Rosser, Mike Mokol Sr. had taken a contract hit out on his life for $10,000.

Officer Rosser was lured into a false real estate deal by his so called friend, George Swetkey (see immediate posting below), who was paid by Mike Mokol Sr. to do the deadly deed.

First they kidnapped Gary’s wife Teresa. They beat her, they raped her and they took pictures of what they did to her.

They then set up a meeting at the Red Rooster restaurant with Officer Rosser. They told Officer Rosser that they had beaten his wife and if he didn’t leave peacefully, they would order her killed.

When they got Officer Rosser to the location where his wife, Teresa was, Officer Rosser tried to fight them off. He was beaten; stabbed; cuffed (both arms and legs) and they tied a noose over his neck to choke him. When this didn’t kill him they shot him several times.

They then stuffed Officer Rosser and his wife into the car in which they would be found. When they set the car on fire, Officer Gary Rosser was still alive. His lungs had smoke inhalation.

Gary left behind two children, his mother Ruby, died six months later of a broken heart.

Teresa had three children, who a year later became orphans after losing their father (Teresa’s first husband) to a heart attack at age 33, which many attributed to the stress of this situation.

And to think that 21 years later, the Lake County Sheriff’s department is being investigated for the same issues that destroyed the Rosser family…When will the citizens of this county stand up and quit supporting these criminal thugs!
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/939/436/31728/
http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/939/939.F2d.436.90-1777.html

16a. Calling the crime ``well-planned executions,`` an Indiana judge sentenced confessed slayer George Swetkey to 110 years in prison Friday for the murders of a Lake County sheriff`s police officer and his wife.

``Any thought I have that he might somehow walk the streets again makes me shudder,`` said Judge James Letsinger of Lake County Superior Court, Crown Point, when he imposed the near-maximum prison terms for double murder. `This sentence is intended to see that he doesn`t.``

Swetkey, for his part, stood mute. ``I haven`t anything to say,`` he muttered softly.Calling the crime ``well-planned executions,`` an Indiana judge sentenced confessed slayer George Swetkey to 110 years in prison Friday for the murders of a Lake County sheriff`s police officer and his wife. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-08-25/news/9003110650_1_inherently-evil-person-murders-sentence

16b. As a interesting side note, Mike Mokol Jr., was very much like his father. Mokol Jr. - the serially arrested son of late Merrillville Town Councilman and Lake County Police Chief Michael Mokol Sr. Mokol Sr., was convicted in 1990 of federal racketeering and illegal gambling charges for taking money to provide police protection for illegal gambling operations. Molok Jr, a, convicted felon -- was sentenced to 262 months in prison and five years of supervised release. May 2010. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/3f068990-2d53-5b33-8824-ff231ebd1268.html

Mokol Jr., a convicted felon with a criminal history spanning three states, is charged in the federal case with three counts of possessing specific handguns and ammunition after his criminal convictions and one count of using a specific gun during a drug trafficking crime. Prosecutors claim he orchestrated burglaries that yielded the guns. He is specifically charged with possessing a 9-mm handgun and a .45-caliber handgun.

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 Hammond Officials 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

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

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

21. & 22. 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

23. 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 …

24. Glenn Kuipers, a former executive director of East Chicago's Tri-City Mental Health Center, and Noah Atterson Spann, a former county commissioner from the city, were indicted in the late 1980s for bribery and bilking taxpayers in connection with publicly buying an East Chicago nursing home at an exorbitant price.

Kuipers and his wife entered the federal witness protection program after he pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Spann, who went to prison in 1988. He finished his sentence 11 years later, was hired by former Mayor Robert Pastrick to run his 1999 re-election campaign and later was named director of community services.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds, lying to the FBI. Frankie chose to flee to Greece. As a Greek national Frankie is exempt from extradition by Greece law. 11 years.

29. East Chicago City Councilman Joe De La Cruz, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds. 6 years.

30. 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. 130 months.

31. East Chicago City Councilman Adrian Santos, pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the $24 million sidewalks-for-votes case. 33 months.

32. Joel Markovich, former Lake County councilman and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 18 months.

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

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

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

36. East Chicago Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr., fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 33 months.

37. East Chicago City Engineer Pedro Porras, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 27 months.

38. East Chicago City Councilman Randall Artis, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 27 months.

39. Terrance Artis, brother of Randall Artis and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 5 months.

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

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

On May 2, 2005. Pastrick began serving his federal prison term for paying Gerry Nannenga, a former executive secretary and business manager for the Northwest Indiana District Council of Carpenters, bribes to influence the investment of $10 million of carpenters' pension money in Coffee Creek, a Porter County land deal that earned Pastrick $600,000 in commissions.

Nannenga pleaded guilty to accepting bribes last year and awaits sentencing April 8. Peter Manous, a former chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party and friend of Pastrick, is serving a 27-month sentence for his role as a go-between in the bribery and its cover-up.

A federal jury convicted Kevin Pastrick's business partner, 58-year-old Carl Paul Ihle Jr., of Lakes of the Four Seasons, of attempting to cover up the bribery investigation with lies and fraudulent documents. A judge sentenced him to 21 months in prison.

Pastrick also must pay a $177,500 fine in the federal case. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/pastrick-prostitution-charge-dropped/article_03ac73bf-2e76-5972-a1a9-acab8ba9e36f.html

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

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

44. & 45. 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.

46. 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. A common theme in NWI. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Urban_Enterprise_Association

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

48. Charmaine Pratchett, embezzling money from GUEA.

49. Derrick Earls, embezzling from GUEA board.

50. Johnnie Wright, embezzling from GUEA board.

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

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

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

54. Former East Chicago Police Chief Edward Samuels, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project. Placed on probation.

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

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

57. Assistant County Building Administrator Jan Allison, extortion.

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

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

60. Karen Krahn-Fife, federal tax fraud.

61. Robert White, Gary city councilman, fraud.

62. Lake County Recorder Morris Carter, extortion.

63. Paul Hernandez, union fraud and corruption.

64. Ken Castaldi, union fraud and corruption.

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

66. 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.

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

68. 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?

69. 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.

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

71. 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

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

73. 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

74. 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

75. 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

76. 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.

77. 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

78. 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.

79. 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. Krusas plead guilty March 2013.

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

81. Jose Camacho, East Chicago city employee conviction along with Pabey.

82. & 83. 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

84. 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.

Philpot turned himself in to serve his reduced sentence of 18 months on Tuesday, March 19th, 2013. Was someone talking and someone else listening? http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/philpot-guilty-on-all-five-counts/article_2ab1a901-230b-5114-8ebe-91b84326c1f3.html

85. Virlissa Crenshaw, 42, of East Chicago, is charged with theft (September 2011) from local government, with another count of filing a false tax return for 2009. Sentence to be determined. 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 (October 2012) 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.

86. 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.

The raid resulted in a criminal indictment (May 17th, 2013), two counts of obstruction of justice and six federal felony counts of wire fraud. A "tip" lead the authorities to the investigation. It's alleged VanTill hatched the plot between November '07 and December '12. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/feds-van-til-indicted-for-using-public-employees-resources-for/article_00f8f717-4dd4-5856-8869-eebc1c121d80.html

Video of the indictment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_SxbMDD2RQ

87. 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. Salinas agreed to a plea agreement on two counts April 2013.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

Salinas plead guilty in mid May 2013.

88. 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

89. 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.

reached a deal with federal prosecutors Friday (August 2nd, 2013), pleading guilty to one of two counts of filing a false federal tax return. Montalvo faces up to three years in prison and a maximum $100,000 fine, according to the plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond.

Montalvo pleaded guilty to providing false information on his 2009 federal tax return by claiming $23,282 in unreimbursed business expenses. Specifically, Montalvo claimed business expenses for use of his vehicle, travel, meals, entertainment and other expenses in his position as library director. However, the East Chicago Public Library Board already had reimbursed him for all employee-related expenses.

In addition, Montalvo admits to falsely claiming $17,063 in unreimbursed medical expenses, according to court documents. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/east-chicago/montalvo-pleads-guilty-to-one-count-of-tax-fraud/article_6bbc3132-05d1-55fd-b29d-ab871918ce3d.html

90. Although not specifically a county employee, Roman Perez of Crown Point and owner of Roman Art, Inc. has plead guilty to tax evasion and making false statements under oath during a bankruptcy proceeding. Perez understated $100,100 of 2007 income, of which the feds report $80,000 of 2007 income came from the Lake County Commissary Fund. Exactly what "Roman Art, Inc." did or does will be posted at a later time.

Perez as part of his plea agreement, agreed to cooperate in an ongoing investigation.

Video of Indictment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qphJKtY041c

91. An unnamed current sitting, elected county official reportedly has a sealed 2012 Grand Jury indictment.

92. And has a current grand jury been empaneled to review if sufficient evidence exist to charge a past county elected official?


Who do you think may be next?



Individuals and/or corporations named in the above 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 Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:06 am, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:30 am 
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In an article by Bill Dolan, this is how the corruption cycle works.....

It appears, at least to me, Powell knew GUEA was nothing more than a shell game, perpetuating the abuses of your tax dollar.


Quote:
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/public-corruption-revolved-around-real-estate-deal/article_43dd15f4-5fe8-5d99-a44c-721ca26ae0c8.html
Public corruption revolved around real estate deal

11 hours ago • Bill Dolan bill.dolan@nwi.com, (219) 662-5328

County has its own collection agency problems

CROWN POINT | The man Lake County government officials once set upon delinquent Lake County taxpayers has turned his collection skills on his … Read more

A federal grand jury indicted Roosevelt Powell and two other men in fall 2006 on felony charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit theft of government funds and eventually added the charge of filing a false income tax return.

The U.S. Attorney's office alleged Powell, Will Smith, a former Lake County Council member, and former Gary attorney Willie Harris, conspired to steal $208,000 from Lake County government and the Gary Historical Society through an elaborate real estate scheme involving an abandoned grocery store in Gary's Miller section.

The former store's owners told county officials they wanted to donate the land and building to a public charity.

Smith, who was on the County Council at the time, learned of the potential donation and talked Harris, an attorney for the Historical Society, into having the historical society take over the property, which had an assessed value of $397,500 and owed the county $37,000 in back taxes.

The government alleged Powell, who was familiar with Gary real estate through his work as a county tax collector, was brought into the conspiracy and together Powell, Smith and Harris convinced a non-profit agency, the Gary Urban Enterprise Association, to buy the former store for $200,000 and convert it into a training center. GUEA later was judged to be a corrupt business venture.

Powell's company, U.S. Research, was accused of filing paperwork that fraudulently reduced the former grocery store's delinquent taxes, permitting the three men to pocket $150,000 in illegal profits. Powell's share was $25,000.

All three men pleaded innocent to the felony counts. Powell characterized his role in the sale as merely that of a real estate agent bringing a willing buyer and seller together, but a federal jury convicted them in September 2007.

A federal judge originally sentenced Powell to 37 months, but an appeals court ordered a re-sentencing, and Powell's term later was reduced. He eventually served about two years and paid $215,500 in fines and restitution, according to federal court records.

_________________
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: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:37 am 
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An interesting article by Bill Dolan, although I wonder if someone had extended a "gift" to the current Lake County Democratic Chairman, Hammond's own Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr, this article, the tip which resulted in developing this article, may never been received, and the article may never had seen print.

At least in my opinion. :smt001


Quote:
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/county-has-its-own-collection-agency-problems/article_9395d36e-7935-5049-87ff-8924416fc2ae.html

County has its own collection agency problems

13 hours ago • Bill Dolan bill.dolan@nwi.com, (219) 662-5328


Public corruption revolved around real estate deal



CROWN POINT | The man Lake County government officials once set upon delinquent Lake County taxpayers has turned his collection skills on his former government employers.

Roosevelt Powell's U.S. Research Consultants Inc. recently won a favorable ruling in a five-year-long legal battle with county government for what he claims are hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees it owes him for the work he did as county tax collector.


Lake Superior Court Judge Calvin Hawkins recently accepted Powell's position the amount of delinquent taxes Powell can claim to have successfully collected is much larger than the amount county officials contend is reasonable.

That calculation is crucial in determining how much money Powell may be owed, since he was entitled, by contracts with the county, to a significant percent of the taxes he helped collect.

Lake County Attorney John Dull said he and county officials will discuss legal options in the case Monday during a closed-door meeting.

If successful, U.S. Research's Powell, a convicted felon and a millionaire from his county work, would receive a measure of satisfaction from the officials who once praised his services to the public and then abandoned him after his indictment on public corruption charges.

Although he has maintained his innocence, a federal jury found Powell guilty of conspiring to enrich himself and others who fraudulently reduced taxes on delinquent real estate. He served about two years in prison.

Powell didn't return telephone calls or answer the door when a Times reporter sought comment.

Merrillville lawyer Rick C. Gikas, who represents U.S. Research Consultants, declined to comment either about Powell or the amount of money at issue.

State records list the 71-year-old Powell as U.S. Research's resident agent, president and the man who incorporated it in July 1997. The address for Powell and his firm is a modest house near Gary's Daniel Hale Williams Elementary School.

It has been home to one of the most lucrative county government vendors thanks to the patronage of Powell's life-long friend, the late Rudy Clay, a former Gary mayor, as well as other county officials who viewed Powell's Gary connections as useful in garnering votes for their re-elections, according to one political observer.

Lake County officials were faced a decade ago with thousands of property owners who refused to pay their county taxes, and in-house efforts to collect were ineffective. Powell stepped in and negotiated contracts that gave him the job of pursuing tax deadbeats between 2000 and 2006.

County officials at the time didn't dispute that Powell delivered millions of dollars in previously uncollected taxes and was entitled by contract to receive 20 percent of that amount between 2000 and 2003, and 15 percent afterward.

The measure of his success has varied. One county official estimated in 2002 he was responsible for the county's receiving $7.8 million. Powell's suit asserted in 2008 the figure is closer to $20 million.

The county had paid him nearly $4 million in commissions by 2006.


That much money prompted scrutiny. Powell's defenders, like Clay, said critics were jealous of Powell's effectiveness. Nevertheless, other county officials began imposing limits on Powell.

Powell's lawyer argues in recent court papers that informal county officials' policies to rein in U.S. Research's fees were in violation of the signed contracts guaranteeing Powell those fees.

Lake County officials canceled U.S. Research's contract after the federal prosecutors announced an indictment of Powell in October 2006 and thought they had made their final payment to Powell the following year.

Powell sued in 2008 and reportedly has produced a large amount of records of disputed tax collection cases on which Powell is basing his claims. The Times has learned of at least one effort at settlement negotiations that has failed.

Some court records Powell's lawyer have filed indicate he is owed more than $1 million. The county reportedly has offered $50,000.



Is the fix on?
:smt002

7039

_________________
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: 92 LC Officials & Insiders Convicted or under Indictment
PostPosted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:28 am 
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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

Not directly related to the above piece, Hammond’s Mayor, Thomas McDermott Jr, in recent Indiana State Board of Account Audits, has refused to answer several questions asked by Auditors.

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. Dr. 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

On January 22, 1990, Magistrate Andrew P. Rodovich entered an order revoking Mokol's bond and detaining him pending trial as he found "there is probable cause to believe that Mr. Mokol was involved in the deaths of the Rossers [Rosser's wife also was murdered] in violation of the terms and conditions of his release." http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/939/436/31728/

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

As another side note, found in a blog, http://bluecountyredstate.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-problems-at-lake-county-sheriffs.html is a very vivid, although not verifiable description of how Gary Rosser, 42, a 15-year veteran of the Lake County Sheriff`s Department, and his wife, Teresa, his wife may have met their death. My bet Mokol Jr may have been involved.

Per an Anonymous poster, posting on Buzzcut's blog writes:
Buzz,

Let me share with you and your readers on how horrible the crime that was committed on Gary & Teresa Rosser.

Gary was part of the investigation of “Operation Lights Out.” This was Officer Gary Rosser’s third or fourth secret operation into the corruption in Lake County. It is also the one he feared the most for his safety, and for good reasons.

Officer Gary Rosser was set to testify against, SGT. Mike Mokol Sr. (a Merrillville councilman who at one time was chief of the sheriff`s police) Unbeknownst Officer Gary Rosser, Mike Mokol Sr. had taken a contract hit out on his life for $10,000.

Officer Rosser was lured into a false real estate deal by his so called friend, George Swetkey (see immediate posting below), who was paid by Mike Mokol Sr. to do the deadly deed.

First they kidnapped Gary’s wife Teresa. They beat her, they raped her and they took pictures of what they did to her.

They then set up a meeting at the Red Rooster restaurant with Officer Rosser. They told Officer Rosser that they had beaten his wife and if he didn’t leave peacefully, they would order her killed.

When they got Officer Rosser to the location where his wife, Teresa was, Officer Rosser tried to fight them off. He was beaten; stabbed; cuffed (both arms and legs) and they tied a noose over his neck to choke him. When this didn’t kill him they shot him several times.

They then stuffed Officer Rosser and his wife into the car in which they would be found. When they set the car on fire, Officer Gary Rosser was still alive. His lungs had smoke inhalation.

Gary left behind two children, his mother Ruby, died six months later of a broken heart.

Teresa had three children, who a year later became orphans after losing their father (Teresa’s first husband) to a heart attack at age 33, which many attributed to the stress of this situation.

And to think that 21 years later, the Lake County Sheriff’s department is being investigated for the same issues that destroyed the Rosser family…When will the citizens of this county stand up and quit supporting these criminal thugs!
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/939/436/31728/
http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/939/939.F2d.436.90-1777.html

16a. Calling the crime ``well-planned executions,`` an Indiana judge sentenced confessed slayer George Swetkey to 110 years in prison Friday for the murders of a Lake County sheriff`s police officer and his wife.

``Any thought I have that he might somehow walk the streets again makes me shudder,`` said Judge James Letsinger of Lake County Superior Court, Crown Point, when he imposed the near-maximum prison terms for double murder. `This sentence is intended to see that he doesn`t.``

Swetkey, for his part, stood mute. ``I haven`t anything to say,`` he muttered softly.Calling the crime ``well-planned executions,`` an Indiana judge sentenced confessed slayer George Swetkey to 110 years in prison Friday for the murders of a Lake County sheriff`s police officer and his wife. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-08-25/news/9003110650_1_inherently-evil-person-murders-sentence

16b. As a interesting side note, Mike Mokol Jr., was very much like his father. Mokol Jr. - the serially arrested son of late Merrillville Town Councilman and Lake County Police Chief Michael Mokol Sr. Mokol Sr., was convicted in 1990 of federal racketeering and illegal gambling charges for taking money to provide police protection for illegal gambling operations. Molok Jr, a, convicted felon -- was sentenced to 262 months in prison and five years of supervised release. May 2010. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/3f068990-2d53-5b33-8824-ff231ebd1268.html

Mokol Jr., a convicted felon with a criminal history spanning three states, is charged in the federal case with three counts of possessing specific handguns and ammunition after his criminal convictions and one count of using a specific gun during a drug trafficking crime. Prosecutors claim he orchestrated burglaries that yielded the guns. He is specifically charged with possessing a 9-mm handgun and a .45-caliber handgun.

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 Hammond Officials 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

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

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

21. & 22. 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

23. 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 …

24. Glenn Kuipers, a former executive director of East Chicago's Tri-City Mental Health Center, and Noah Atterson Spann, a former county commissioner from the city, were indicted in the late 1980s for bribery and bilking taxpayers in connection with publicly buying an East Chicago nursing home at an exorbitant price.

Kuipers and his wife entered the federal witness protection program after he pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Spann, who went to prison in 1988. He finished his sentence 11 years later, was hired by former Mayor Robert Pastrick to run his 1999 re-election campaign and later was named director of community services.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds, lying to the FBI. Frankie chose to flee to Greece. As a Greek national Frankie is exempt from extradition by Greece law. 11 years.

29. East Chicago City Councilman Joe De La Cruz, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds. 6 years.

30. 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. 130 months.

31. East Chicago City Councilman Adrian Santos, pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the $24 million sidewalks-for-votes case. 33 months.

32. Joel Markovich, former Lake County councilman and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 18 months.

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

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

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

36. East Chicago Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr., fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 33 months.

37. East Chicago City Engineer Pedro Porras, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 27 months.

38. East Chicago City Councilman Randall Artis, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 27 months.

39. Terrance Artis, brother of Randall Artis and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case. 5 months.

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

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

On May 2, 2005. Pastrick began serving his federal prison term for paying Gerry Nannenga, a former executive secretary and business manager for the Northwest Indiana District Council of Carpenters, bribes to influence the investment of $10 million of carpenters' pension money in Coffee Creek, a Porter County land deal that earned Pastrick $600,000 in commissions.

Nannenga pleaded guilty to accepting bribes last year and awaits sentencing April 8. Peter Manous, a former chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party and friend of Pastrick, is serving a 27-month sentence for his role as a go-between in the bribery and its cover-up.

A federal jury convicted Kevin Pastrick's business partner, 58-year-old Carl Paul Ihle Jr., of Lakes of the Four Seasons, of attempting to cover up the bribery investigation with lies and fraudulent documents. A judge sentenced him to 21 months in prison.

Pastrick also must pay a $177,500 fine in the federal case. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/pastrick-prostitution-charge-dropped/article_03ac73bf-2e76-5972-a1a9-acab8ba9e36f.html

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

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

44. & 45. 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.

46. 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. A common theme in NWI. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Urban_Enterprise_Association

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

48. Charmaine Pratchett, embezzling money from GUEA.

49. Derrick Earls, embezzling from GUEA board.

50. Johnnie Wright, embezzling from GUEA board.

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

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

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

54. Former East Chicago Police Chief Edward Samuels, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project. Placed on probation.

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

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

57. Assistant County Building Administrator Jan Allison, extortion.

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

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

60. Karen Krahn-Fife, federal tax fraud.

61. Robert White, Gary city councilman, fraud.

62. Lake County Recorder Morris Carter, extortion.

63. Paul Hernandez, union fraud and corruption.

64. Ken Castaldi, union fraud and corruption.

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

66. 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.

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

68. 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?

69. 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.

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

71. 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

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

73. 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

74. 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

75. 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

76. 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.

77. 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

78. 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.

79. 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. Krusas plead guilty March 2013.

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

81. Jose Camacho, East Chicago city employee conviction along with Pabey.

82. & 83. 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

84. 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.

Philpot turned himself in to serve his reduced sentence of 18 months on Tuesday, March 19th, 2013. Was someone talking and someone else listening? http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/philpot-guilty-on-all-five-counts/article_2ab1a901-230b-5114-8ebe-91b84326c1f3.html

85. Virlissa Crenshaw, 42, of East Chicago, is charged with theft (September 2011) from local government, with another count of filing a false tax return for 2009. Sentence to be determined. 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 (October 2012) 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.

86. 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.

The raid resulted in a criminal indictment (May 17th, 2013), two counts of obstruction of justice and six federal felony counts of wire fraud. A "tip" lead the authorities to the investigation. It's alleged VanTill hatched the plot between November '07 and December '12. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/feds-van-til-indicted-for-using-public-employees-resources-for/article_00f8f717-4dd4-5856-8869-eebc1c121d80.html

On August 27th, 2013, The Northwest Indiana Gazette has confirmed with several reliable sources that George Van Til will plead guilty and will serve time in prison. Van Til was charged with 6 counts of wire fraud and 2 counts of obstruction of justice in May of this year. Sources close to the investigation tell the Gazette that Scott King has finalized a deal for Van Til to plead guilty to a single count, most likely Obstruction of Justice. http://northwestindianagazette.com/today/2013/08/vantil-to-plead-guilty-serve-time/

Video of the indictment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_SxbMDD2RQ

87. 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. Salinas agreed to a plea agreement on two counts April 2013.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... 8837a.html

Salinas plead guilty in mid May 2013.

88. 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

89. 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.

reached a deal with federal prosecutors Friday (August 2nd, 2013), pleading guilty to one of two counts of filing a false federal tax return. Montalvo faces up to three years in prison and a maximum $100,000 fine, according to the plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond.

Montalvo pleaded guilty to providing false information on his 2009 federal tax return by claiming $23,282 in unreimbursed business expenses. Specifically, Montalvo claimed business expenses for use of his vehicle, travel, meals, entertainment and other expenses in his position as library director. However, the East Chicago Public Library Board already had reimbursed him for all employee-related expenses.

In addition, Montalvo admits to falsely claiming $17,063 in unreimbursed medical expenses, according to court documents. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/east-chicago/montalvo-pleads-guilty-to-one-count-of-tax-fraud/article_6bbc3132-05d1-55fd-b29d-ab871918ce3d.html

90. Although not specifically a county employee, Roman Perez of Crown Point and owner of Roman Art, Inc. has plead guilty to tax evasion and making false statements under oath during a bankruptcy proceeding. Perez understated $100,100 of 2007 income, of which the feds report $80,000 of 2007 income came from the Lake County Commissary Fund. Exactly what "Roman Art, Inc." did or does will be posted at a later time.

Perez as part of his plea agreement, agreed to cooperate in an ongoing investigation.

Video of Indictment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qphJKtY041c

91. An unnamed current sitting, elected county official who testified at the Philpot trial, reportedly has a sealed 2012 Grand Jury indictment.

92. And has a current grand jury been empaneled to review if sufficient evidence exist to charge a past county elected official?


Who do you think may be next?



Individuals and/or corporations named in the above 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.


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