Lake Station mayor, wife go on trial in federal court

Keywords Courts / Fraud / neglect
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The mayor of a northwestern Indiana city and his wife are going on trial on federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and filing false tax returns.

Jury selection for the trial of Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist and his wife, Deborah, is scheduled to begin Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana in Hammond. The couple is accused of taking more than $20,000 from his campaign account and the city's food pantry to cover casino gambling losses.

Prosecutors say the couple lost more than $160,000 at casinos from 2007 to 2013.

Defense attorney Scott King has said the couple reimbursed themselves for personal expenses from the mayor's campaign funds and didn't take any money from the city's food pantry fund.

Soderquist was beaten in the Democratic primary by Christopher Anderson in May.

 

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