Former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich was released from a federal prison in Springfield, Missouri and moved to a halfway house in Chicago on Tuesday, according to officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Donald Murphy said he couldn’t comment specifically on Buncich’s move, but said generally release dates are calculated based on several factors.
Every inmate earns good conduct time, which is up to 54 days per year of their sentence, Murphy said. Further, inmates can earn time credits after successful completion of approved evidence-based recidivism reduction programs or productive activities, he said.
In 2017, Oscar Martinez replaced Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, who was convicted and imprisoned on federal public corruption charges. (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune)
In January 2018, Buncich, 79, was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison after he was convicted of bribery and wire fraud, among other charges, for soliciting bribes from county tow operators.
Buncich, former Chief Timothy Downs and William Szamach, of C.S.A. Towing, were named in a multicount indictment on November 18, 2016, alleging a towing scheme where the sheriff accepted bribes in the form of thousands of dollars in cash and donations to his campaign fund, Buncich Boosters, according to court records.
Downs pleaded guilty in December 2016, according to court documents, and Szarmach pleaded guilty in July 2017. Both agreed to testify against Buncich during his trial.
Judge James Moody resentenced Buncich to 12 years and 6 months in prison on federal corruption charges in August 2020. His release date is still set at Oct. 5, 2027, according to Bureau of Prisons records.
Two months earlier, in June 2020, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion affirming his conviction on charges of bribery and wire fraud, but vacating convictions on three counts of wire fraud, which the government admitted there was insufficient evidence to convict. Moody reduced Buncich’s sentence by 37 months, and with credit for time served, meaning Buncich would remain in prison for about 10 more years. Moody said he reached the sentencing decision based on Buncich’s greed in committing the crime and his “blind obedience to corruption.”
Former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, right, walks to the Federal courthouse in Hammond with his then-attorney Bryan Truitt for his sentencing on Jan. 16, 2018. (Suzanne Tennant / Post-Tribune)
“It reflects the seriousness of the crime,” Moody said. “The citizens of Lake County deserve better.”
Before he was resentenced, Buncich’s voice was weak as he read from a prepared statement. Buncich said he has spent his “many long days” in prison “reflecting on (his) transgressions.” Prison has “taken a toll on (him) physically and emotionally,” he said.
“I humbly appeal to you, your honor, and the court for mercy,” Buncich said.
During his resentencing hearing, his attorney Kerry C. Connor asked Moody to consider resentencing him to time-served and supervised release coupled with home detention. Buncich has various diseases and conditions, including hypertension and pre-diabetes, Connor said. As the resentencing occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Connor argued that with Buncich’s age and medical condition, he would’ve died in prison if he caught COVID-19.
“Just looking at Mr. Buncich,” Connor told the courtroom, it is evident that his prison term has taken a toll on him. Buncich lost weight in prison because he only eats food offered through the commissary to avoid eating in the cafeteria because – given his background in law enforcement – he was scared to eat with other inmates, she said.
Former Lake County Democratic Party Chairman and attorney Jim Wieser said Buncich should have been punished for his crime, but he felt Buncich’s sentence was “grossly” higher than the crime committed.
Wieser said he was glad to hear Buncich would be closer to his family.
Tow operator William Szarmach, left, and Former Lake County Police Chief Timothy Downs were named in a multi-count indictment alongisde former Sheriff John Buncich in November 2016. (Post-Tribune archive photos)
“He has to do the time, and pay the price and that’s legit. But I always thought the time given was in excess of the crime,” Wieser said. “I think he paid the price for the crime that was committed.”
Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez declined to comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said Buncich made a conscious decision to pocket money in exchange for towing contracts. During the trial, Benson said prosecutors highlighted Buncich’s attitude as a “law and order” sheriff in his fourth term while engaging in misconduct with others in his department.
“This wasn’t a bad decision. This was a bad administration, which Buncich led,” Benson said.
One of Buncich’s top deputies, Dan Murchek, was sentenced to two years of probation in 2018 for lying to the FBI when he was interviewed about the towing operations under the sheriff. Muchek, who planned to run to succeed Buncich as sheriff, denied helping a federal informant restructure a $1,000 campaign donation to avoid Indiana’s limitation on business contributions, according to court documents.
“You’ll be remembered as a crook,” Moody told Murchek at sentencing.
Tow operator John Cortina arrives at federal court in Hammond on Thursday, May 10, 2018. Former Portage Mayor James Snyder's campaign finance reports still show a loan to Cortina, who died in February. (Kyle Telechan/Post Tribune)
Buncich was indicted on Nov. 18, 2016 — the same day as former Portage Mayor James Snyder and the late John Cortina, owner of Kustom Auto Body in Portage were charged in a similar towing scheme. A jury found Snyder not guilty on a bribery count involving a towing contract and guilty on a second bribery count for receiving a payment and one count of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service.
The second bribery conviction, over allegations surrounding a $13,000 payment involving around $1 million in contracts for garbage trucks, stood after two trials, only to get overturned when the Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that the payment was a gratuity, not a bribe, and criminalizing the payment put even routine campaign contributions at the risk of the federal government’s wrath.
Snyder is scheduled to go to trial for a third time in U.S. District Court in Hammond on a bribery charge involving a $13,000 payment for a garbage truck contract. Currently, the trial is set to begin on Sept. 15, according to court records.
Prosecutors have requested to sentence Snyder on the obstructing the IRS charge and then dropping the remaining bribery charge once he is sentenced. Snyder has requested the bribery charge be dismissed with prejudice before sentencing on an IRS charge and for the court to bar prosecutors from re-trying the bribery charge at sentencing.
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)
Wieser said each case in the federal system is unique, with some moving through the process quickly and others at a slower pace. From what he’s read about the Snyder case, Wieser said it appears his case is “an outlier.”
“Both cases have gone through the federal system and tried in different ways,” Wieser said.
akukulka@post-trib.com
