Posted on 05/18/2002 8:22:10 PM PDT by mhking
This one I've got personal knowledge of, so I thought I'd give everyone a heads up. Katie Hall is City Clerk of Gary, IN, and has held that office since 1987. Prior to that point, she has been an Indiana state senator, and was a US Congresswoman for a term and a half in the early 80's. In her position, Hall forced her employees to buy candy, tickets to dinners, and raise money for her political campaigns. The feds indicted Hall on 22 counts, which could net her 115 years in prison. What the story that I'm including below doesn't note is that many wouldn't be surprised if Hall doesn't start singing like a bird. Many other current and former local officials in Gary are also guilty (and yes, I do know about this first hand as well) of the same crime in the past. Most notable of the officials tied to this is former Gary Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher. Keep yer' eyes open, folks; this one should get even more interesting. Gary city clerk, daughter indicted on racketeering charges By Tom Coyne HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) -- A federal grand jury indicted the Gary city clerk on charges that for the past 13 years she made her employees raise money for her re-election campaigns in order to keep their jobs. Katie Hall, who served one term in Congress in the 1980s, has been using city workers to raise campaign money by selling candy and buy fund-raising tickets, U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen said Friday. Workers who did not raise enough money were subject to suspension, with at least one worker being fired because of it, he said. Some who did not raise enough were required to make pledges or written IOUs, Van Bokkelen said. "The fact of the matter is there were a number of employees, who we believe to be credible, who indicated that in order to keep their jobs, they had to give money to Katie Hall," Van Bokkelen said. "Having that as a condition of your employment is key here," FBI agent Robert M. Reilley said. Hall's daughter, Junifer Hall, who is also her chief deputy, also was indicted. They are charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and three counts of extortion. They also faces three counts of mail fraud for allegedly having Katie Hall's daughter, Jacqueline, on the city clerk's payroll even though she did not work there. She has not been charged. Junifer Hall also is charged with six counts of perjury for her testimony before the grand jury in February. In all, Katie Hall faces up to 115 years in prison and $2 million in fines if convicted, while Junifer Hall faces the same penalty and up to five more years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each perjury count. They are scheduled to be arraigned on May 29. Van Bokkelen began investigating the case last fall after reading a story in the Post-Tribune of Merrillville about three suspended city clerk employees who said they were pressured to give money to their boss' campaign. Katie and Junifer Hall surrendered to authorities on Friday afternoon and each was released on $20,000 unsecured bond. Katie Hall coule not be reached for comment. A phone message was left at her office Friday by The Associated Press. In an interview in February, Hall denied knowing anything about candy sales and said she had not done anything wrong with her payroll. "Never have I had any person as a ghost payroller," Hall said. "I am an honest woman. I have a longstanding reputation as a public official. Never before has anyone accused me of having ghost payrollers." Macarthur Drake, the attorney for the two women, said she she stands by the statement. "There is no change to the position she had," he said. Drake said he could not comment further because he was still reviewing the charges. Katie Hall, 64, does not plan to step down from her $54,366-a-year jobas clerk of both the city council and city court, Drake said. Her term of office is four years and expires next year. She was a state senator when she was appointed in 1982 to complete the term of U.S. Rep. Adam Benjamin after his death. Later that year, Hall won election to a full two-year term but was defeated in the 1984 Democratic primary by Peter Visclosky, who has held the seat ever since. Hall was first elected Gary's city clerk in 1987. Gary Mayor Scott King issued a statement saying people should keep in mind that Katie and Junifer Hall should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. "Our prayers are with the family," he said.
Associated Press
Last updated 05:08 PM, EST, Friday, May 17, 2002
These three statements just don't seem to go together. Honest, longstanding public officials do exist, I guess, but every crook has a first accusation and indictment.
Wonder what he's praying for?
I know Scott (no relation, BTW), and he is not stupid. He's being as politically neutral as possible, given the mess there.
My folks frantically called me with this article this morning - mind you, my dad was giggling madly when he called...
I thought perjury was legal. The former POTUS certainly thought it was, and so did the news media.
King? Nope. He's clean.
Now there are plenty of others who aren't - you're from Indiana, you'll recognize at least some of these names: Richard Hatcher, Thomas Barnes, Dozier Allen, Charlie Brown, Rudolph Clay, Clorius Lay. There ar plenty of others as well...
Couldn't have happened - both Katie and her daughter look like the southbound end of a northbound mule. I don't think very many people are that desperate...
50 years ago all State employees in ohio who were political appointees were requried to donate 10 percent of their paycheck to the Ohio Democratic party when a Democrat was governor.
Today the corruption is less open but no less frequent. Today employees are forced to donate in less provable ways. Fake employees have been a tried and true method since Tammny Hall ran New York.
What this more likely tells you is that this is one Democrat who has crossed another more powerful Democrat.
Corruption in Democratic administrations of Cities, States and the Nation are the rule ... not the exception. When one is caught and punished, it is usually because the person caught ticked off a powerful Democrat. Every once in a while higher ups teach lower level Democrats a lesson about who really is boss. That may be the case in this scandal.
East Chicago Mayor-for-life Bob Pastrick runs the NW Indiana machine with an iron fist. He comes from the Daley (the daddy) school of politics. Knowing how stupid Katie Hall is, I wouldn't be surprised if she crossed Pastrick somewhere.
I'm sure this comes as no surprise to many of us... But please let it reach into Chicago "proper"...
Now if they could just move East to South Bend, and clean it up too......
Stay well and vigilant, y'all.............FRegards
It'd be nice to get the Chicago influence out of our state too. (At least, as far as politics goes.)
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