Former Portage Mayor James Snyder and his family arrive to Federal Court in Hammond for his sentencing on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune)
After nearly five years, two convictions and changes in his legal team, James Snyder, former mayor of Portage, was sentenced to nearly 2 years in prison and one year supervised release for his crimes Wednesday in Hammond’s federal court.
Former Portage mayor was sentenced to 21 months in prison for soliciting bribes and obstruction. He will have to surrender into custody Jan. 5. He was convicted in February 2019 of using a shell company to hide income assets from the IRS while owing back personal and business taxes, but never sentenced.
Snyder, 43, was indicted in November 2016, on the same day former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich was indicted for accepting bribes in a towing scheme. Since then, Snyder’s case docket has 559 filings. Buncich, 75, has been in prison in Springfield, Missouri, since early 2018, serving a 15-year sentence.
In February 2019, a jury convicted Snyder, 43, of taking a $13,000 bribe in exchange for contracts to sell five garbage trucks to the city and using a shell company to hide income assets from the IRS while owing back personal and business taxes. The jury acquitted Snyder on a third count that alleged he took a $12,000 bribe to get a company on Portage’s tow list.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen granted a new trial on the soliciting bribes charge. The retrial was heard by Judge Matthew F. Kennelly, from the Northern District of Illinois, who is the third judge to review the case.
In March, after a two-week retrial, a federal court jury found Snyder guilty of soliciting bribes. Snyder’s sentencing was moved to Wednesday in August after Snyder hired Gambino — who represented ex-Calumet Township employee Ethel Shelton — to replace Jackie M. Bennett Jr., Vivek R. Hadley and Jayna M. Cacioppo, of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP.
Snyder faced the judge, and occasionally turning to the audience in the courtroom, thanked his family, friends, church members, staff and lawyers for their support. Wednesday was garbage day in his neighborhood, Snyder said, and he realized that every time he sees a garbage truck he “won’t be able to forget about this.”
“Your honor, I should’ve been better. I had not only an obligation to be better to my family but to my constituents,” Snyder said. “Everyone knows the deep remorse I feel.”
Prosecutors stated that Snyder should be sentenced “within the applicable guideline range,” which is 46 to 57 months. Andrea Gambino, Snyder’s new attorney, requested probation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said bribery undermines the public’s trust in government, and “normalizes the idea that leaders can circumvent the law.” A prison sentence provides a “counter message” to those who “break the law and think they can get away with it.”
Throughout the investigation, Bhachu said, Snyder lied to law enforcement, coordinated statements with other witnesses and “effectively tried to limit the truth finding process.”
“This is a defendant who had many opportunities in life,” Bhachu said. “But he was a defendant who had those opportunities, had that job, and he knew better.”
Bhachu said that Snyder “keeps behaving, unfortunately, as if he did nothing wrong.”
Gambino said prison has negative impacts on a person and that prison shouldn’t be considered the first option for punishment. Snyder has gone through 7 years of punishment, Gambino said, including the investigation time, which is “a long time to be under the cloud of stress and pressure.”
“There’s the shame to this,” Gambino said. “A felony conviction is permanent, and barring court action, follows someone for the rest of their life.”
Gambino said that Snyder has remorse, but has been “maintaining his innocence.”
Kennelly said he wanted the case to be “treated seriously,” because ultimately a case like this erodes public trust in government, which is why it is “inappropriate” for probation.
“If you get caught on this, you’re going to be deprived of liberty,” Kennelly said. “There is a very significant harm that comes from any type of situation like this when a public official corrupts the office, which is what Mr. Snyder did.”
Kennelly also drew on the testimony of Randy Reeder, then Portage’s assistant superintendent of streets and sanitation, saying Reeder’s testimony “is all over the place.”
Reeder testified Wednesday on behalf of the defense stating that no one asked him to lie when he recanted his grand jury testimony, in which he said he felt like a pawn and that Snyder knew knew about portions of the bid specifications. Bennett also testified that he never told Reeder what to say.
But, Reeder said that his grand jury testimony “is what it is.”
“If I could go back ... I wouldn’t agree to revising those statements,” Reeder said.
Kennelly said that “as bribes go, this was small.” While neither of the trials were “slam dunk cases,” two juries heard it: one jury convicted on obstruction and another on bribes.
The evidence also showed, Kennelly said that Snyder lied to law enforcement and worked hard to “square away” stories with other witnesses.
“That says something about Mr. Snyder,” Kennelly said. “That’s not the way to do that.”
Portage Mayor Sue Lynch released a statement following the sentencing: “This verdict is no vindication for the citizens of Portage and it is unfortunate that this ruling has made a mockery out of the Justice system. To say I am disappointed in Judge Kennelly’s ruling is an understatement. The City of Portage has endured five long years of of being drug through the mud, and our image, and the office of Mayor, has been tarnished for years to come. This ruling is nothing more than a slap on the wrist to someone who recklessly spent taxpayer dollars and left our city with embarrassing state board of accounts reviews, a lowered credit rating and a nearly empty bank account when we came into office.”
Three character witnesses testified, including Snyder’s 70-year-old father Bruce, who said that his son “thinks outside the box” and “got a lot done” for Portage, like renovating City Hall.
“James is not the person they have made him out to be. He is a good man,” Snyder’s dad said.
Amanda Lakie, Snyder’s administrative assistant, said Snyder was “not a boss who just told you what to do” but had vision and leadership skills.
Kennelly said his sentencing considers Snyder’s accomplishments as mayor and the many letters sent on his behalf, which left him with a decision on how to sentence “someone who is a good person and does something bad and gets caught.”
After sentencing Snyder, Kennelly said he wished Snyder luck.
“You’re a good, strong man. You’ll get through this,” Kennelly said.
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