Latest news with #GretchenLund
Chicago Tribune
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Former Portage mayor James Snyder's sentencing on federal tax charges is reset for Oct. 16
U.S. District Judge Gretchen Lund agreed to delay the sentencing date for former Portage Mayor James Snyder on federal tax charges until Oct. 16. Originally set for September 3, Snyder requested the delay as his attorney Andrèa Gambino has a conflict involving oral arguments in a separate case before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Sept. 9, according to his motion to reset sentencing Snyder has requested calling four witnesses to speak his behalf at sentencing and expects it to take a half day. He said Gambino has been in contact with government attorneys who don't oppose the move, the motion stated. Prosecutors will move to dismiss Snyder's remaining bribery count at sentencing, the Post-Tribune previously reported. They will present evidence of Snyder's bribery, which was the basis of his two previous convictions, but will not ask the court to apply the bribery guideline in determining his sentence. 'This is not about 'hostage-taking,' but about ensuring that defendant is sentenced before any remaining count is dismissed,' prosecutors wrote in a May filing. 'The government believes that the interests of justice are best served by proceeding to sentencing on the current count of conviction.' If the date holds up, it would cap off a legal odyssey for Snyder, who was originally indicted in November 17, 2016 on two bribery counts and one of obstructing the IRS, over allegations surrounding a $13,000 payment involving around $1 million in contracts for garbage trucks. A jury found Snyder not guilty on a bribery count involving a towing contract and guilty on the other two counts in March 2021. The second bribery conviction stood after two trials, only to get overturned when the Supreme Court ruled on June 26, 2024 that the payment to Snyder from the Buha brothers, owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, was a gratuity because Snyder received the money, reportedly for consulting work, after the business got the garbage truck contracts and not before. The court's majority opined that criminalizing the payment put even routine campaign contributions at the risk of the federal government's wrath. Overturning Snyder's conviction had a ripple effect on countless other cases, most notably prominent cases in Illinois, including the trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan and the case of the 'ComEd Four' who were convicted of a scheme to bribe him. Federal prosecutors have described Snyder in their filing as 'a thoroughly corrupt public official, twice convicted by a jury of his peers for receiving a $13,000 payoff.' Snyder said he got a job doing health insurance consulting from Great Lakes Peterbilt's owners Stephen and Robert Buha, but prosecutors noted no contracts were written and there was no documented proof work was done. Snyder, a Republican, was first elected mayor in 2011 and reelected in 2015, a term cut short by his federal conviction in February 2019. In 2023, Snyder received a sentence of 21 months in prison for the bribery and IRS convictions and a year on supervised release from U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois. Still, Snyder successfully argued that the start of his sentence should be postponed until his bid to have the Supreme Court hear his case was complete.
Chicago Tribune
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Former Portage mayor James Snyder's sentencing reset for Oct. 16
U.S. District Judge Gretchen Lund agreed to delay the sentencing date for former Portage Mayor James Snyder on federal tax charges until Oct. 16. Originally set for September 3, Snyder requested the delay as his attorney Andrèa Gambino has a conflict involving oral arguments in a separate case before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Sept. 9, according to his motion to reset sentencing Snyder has requested calling four witnesses to speak his behalf at sentencing and expects it to take a half day. He said Gambino has been in contact with government attorneys who don't oppose the move, the motion stated. Prosecutors will move to dismiss Snyder's remaining bribery count at sentencing, the Post-Tribune previously reported. They will present evidence of Snyder's bribery, which was the basis of his two previous convictions, but will not ask the court to apply the bribery guideline in determining his sentence. 'This is not about 'hostage-taking,' but about ensuring that defendant is sentenced before any remaining count is dismissed,' prosecutors wrote in a May filing. 'The government believes that the interests of justice are best served by proceeding to sentencing on the current count of conviction.' If the date holds up, it would cap off a legal odyssey for Snyder, who was originally indicted in November 17, 2016 on two bribery counts and one of obstructing the IRS, over allegations surrounding a $13,000 payment involving around $1 million in contracts for garbage trucks. A jury found Snyder not guilty on a bribery count involving a towing contract and guilty on the other two counts in March 2021. The second bribery conviction stood after two trials, only to get overturned when the Supreme Court ruled on June 26, 2024 that the payment to Snyder from the Buha brothers, owners of Great Lakes Peterbilt, was a gratuity because Snyder received the money, reportedly for consulting work, after the business got the garbage truck contracts and not before. The court's majority opined that criminalizing the payment put even routine campaign contributions at the risk of the federal government's wrath. Overturning Snyder's conviction had a ripple effect on countless other cases, most notably prominent cases in Illinois, including the trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan and the case of the 'ComEd Four' who were convicted of a scheme to bribe him. Federal prosecutors have described Snyder in their filing as 'a thoroughly corrupt public official, twice convicted by a jury of his peers for receiving a $13,000 payoff.' Snyder said he got a job doing health insurance consulting from Great Lakes Peterbilt's owners Stephen and Robert Buha, but prosecutors noted no contracts were written and there was no documented proof work was done. Snyder, a Republican, was first elected mayor in 2011 and reelected in 2015, a term cut short by his federal conviction in February 2019. In 2023, Snyder received a sentence of 21 months in prison for the bribery and IRS convictions and a year on supervised release from U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois. Still, Snyder successfully argued that the start of his sentence should be postponed until his bid to have the Supreme Court hear his case was complete.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Yahoo
Lake Station man gets 30 years in federal prison for child porn
U.S. District Judge Gretchen Lund sentenced a Lake Station man to a maximum 30 years sentence Wednesday after he admitted he made and sent child porn in June 2023, records show. Matthew Bugielski, 26, pleaded guilty in February to sexual exploitation of children, Acting U.S. Attorney Tina Nommay said in a news release. He will also serve 15 years on supervised release after prison and pay restitution to the victim. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a 'priority one' tip to the Indiana State Police and the Internet Crimes Against Children task force in August 2023 – fearing a child was in 'imminent' danger, filings show. The illegal material was sent via Kik, a messaging app; Hily, a dating app; and texts. They discovered Bugielski, an HVAC tech, took a pornographic picture of a toddler, sending it to get more child porn in return. He asked a northeastern Indiana woman for pictures and videos of her sexually abusing another child. The woman said the child was small. 'I mean you can still do stuff,' he responded. He later sent an explicit video of a child, records note. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Morgan tried the case. Visvaldis Kupsis represented Bugielski. mcolias@
Chicago Tribune
19-02-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Lake Station man gets 30 years in federal prison for child porn
U.S. District Judge Gretchen Lund sentenced a Lake Station man to a maximum 30 years sentence Wednesday after he admitted he made and sent child porn in June 2023, records show. Matthew Bugielski, 26, pleaded guilty in February to sexual exploitation of children, Acting U.S. Attorney Tina Nommay said in a news release. He will also serve 15 years on supervised release after prison and pay restitution to the victim. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a 'priority one' tip to the Indiana State Police and the Internet Crimes Against Children task force in August 2023 – fearing a child was in 'imminent' danger, filings show. The illegal material was sent via Kik, a messaging app; Hily, a dating app; and texts. They discovered Bugielski, an HVAC tech, took a pornographic picture of a toddler, sending it to get more child porn in return. He asked a northeastern Indiana woman for pictures and videos of her sexually abusing another child. The woman said the child was small. 'I mean you can still do stuff,' he responded. He later sent an explicit video of a child, records note. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Morgan tried the case. Visvaldis Kupsis represented Bugielski.
