HAMMOND | Blasting Robert Cantrell for using his talents to steal from taxpayers, a federal judge sentenced the former Lake County political power-broker to 6 1/2 years in federal prison.
Finishing Cantrell's long-delayed sentencing in Hammond federal court Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Rudy Lozano seemed unconvinced by defense attorney Kevin Milner's portrayal of Cantrell, 67, of Schererville, as a benevolent patriarch, good Samaritan and patriot who deserved no prison time for his 11 fraud convictions.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Revisit coverage of Bob Cantrell's 2008 federal fraud trial.
RELATED: Read the federal indictment.
Milner argued Cantrell's crimes were "victimless" because Cantrell, a former political fixer based in East Chicago, can pay back the $68,000 he took from North Township through contract fraud.
Lozano disagreed. He called Cantrell a "blessed" man who stole from taxpayers.
"You were ahead of what most people had," Lozano told Cantrell. "But from the evidence in this case, it also appears that you fell into that ditch called politics."
Lozano sentenced Cantrell to 78 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Lozano also ordered Cantrell to repay the $68,000 to North Township. Cantrell must report for prison May 13.
Milner drew smiles and quiet chuckles when he requested Cantrell be sent to a federal prison in Oxford, Wis., a common destination for local public servants convicted of federal crimes. Lozano agreed to recommend to the prison bureau that Cantrell be sent to a jail near Chicago.
"There are some people at the (Oxford) facility that are casual acquaintances," Milner said.
Milner said outside court he planned to file appeals to Cantrell's conviction and sentence Tuesday afternoon.
Cantrell was convicted June 6 of four counts of depriving the public of honest services, three counts of insurance fraud using the U.S. mail and four counts of filing false tax returns between 2000 and 2003. The indictment accused him of taking cash kickbacks from a contract between his then-employer, the North Township trustee's office, and a political ally's company.
The sentencing was delayed almost 10 months, most recently so that Lozano could review trial transcripts for evidence relevant to Milner's objections to sentence enhancements proposed in a pre-sentence report prepared by probation agents.
Milner argued unsuccessfully that his "friend Bob" deserved a lighter sentence, claiming the township lost no money in the fraud and that Cantrell had no decision-making or supervisory power at the township. Milner pleaded with Lozano to ignore advisory sentencing guidelines that called for a sentence of up to eight years in prison.
Assistant U.S Attorney Orest Szewciw asked for an eight-year sentence.
"Lake County, Ind., has a history of public corruption, and this case is just one more sordid chapter," Szewciw said.
In his statement to Lozano, Cantrell did not apologize. He reminded Lozano of his military service in the Gulf War.
"No matter what happens here today, I am proud to be an American," Cantrell said.
