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Saturday, December 18, 2010

Ind. Gov't. - "Former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick filed for bankruptcy Friday"

Sarah Tompkins of the NWI Times reports today in a story that begins:

HAMMOND | Former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick filed for bankruptcy Friday, potentially putting a hold on the state's attempts to collect a more than $100 million civil judgment against him for racketeering.

Pastrick, 83, collected votes for the 1999 Democratic mayoral primary in exchange for helping repair residents' sidewalks, driveways and porches, according to court records.

The judgment stems from a federal civil suit Indiana filed against Pastrick and others in 2004 to collect the government money spent in the so-called sidewalks-for-votes scheme.

Last week, the state filed a motion requesting that a judge allow state marshals to collect cash, jewelry, memorabilia and other items of value from Pastrick's Ogden Dunes home and Portage storage locker. The judge had not yet made a ruling on the motion when the bankruptcy filing was made.

"The commencement or continuation of any action or proceeding against Robert A. Pastrick, ... and any act to exercise control over or recover a claim against property of Robert A. Pastrick's bankruptcy estate, is automatically stayed," Pastrick's attorney, Gordon Gouveia wrote in a Friday court filing. "Any such action taken by a party without prior relief from the Bankruptcy Court is null and void."

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller disagreed, describing the filing as a "stalling tactic." Zoeller said the racketeering judgment should not be discharged.

"The filing for bankruptcy is symbolic of a lack of accountability and one more attempt to avoid his responsibility to the citizens of East Chicago," Zoeller said. "Former Mayor Pastrick has never been held accountable for running the East Chicago municipal government as a corrupt enterprise, which was what the federal court found."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 18, 2010 05:28 PM
Posted to Indiana Government