Snyder ruling will impact public corruption cases across the country (2024)

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Republican former Portage Mayor James Snyder Wednesday is certain to impact public corruption cases and be cited as precedent in courtrooms across the country for decades to come.

Already several high-profile public corruption trials, including that of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, were put on hold to await the high court's decision in the Snyder case.

It appears likely Madigan's pending trial, in particular, either will see some of the charges dropped or refashioned by federal prosecutors after the Supreme Court effectively green-lighted the payment of "gratuities" for official acts by state or municipal officeholders and government employees, so long as the payments aren't agreed to in advance or prohibited by state law or a local ordinance.

According to court records, seven of the 23 pending charges against Madigan — the longest tenured Illinois House leader in state history — allege violations of the same federal statute that was the subject of the Snyder ruling.

A related Illinois case involving four Madigan allies found guilty last year of conspiring to bribe Madigan to benefit the ComEd electric utility also relied heavily on the Snyder statute and may have to be retried now that the nation's high court has limited the law's scope.

The U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of Illinois, which has authority over the Madigan case, as well as the Snyder case due to potential conflicts involving Snyder, declined to comment on the Supreme Court's decision.

In Indiana, the ruling is unlikely to derail the July 10 sentencing of former state Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville, who pleaded guilty last year to a different federal crime — conspiracy to commit honest services fraud — for trading his vote in favor of gaming legislation in 2019 in exchange for the promise of highly paid future job with the parent company of the Majestic Star casinos in Gary.

But it may offer a glimmer of hope to Democratic former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, since one of his three remaining convictions was based on the Snyder statute, along with two counts of wire fraud.

Buncich, 78, is about halfway through a 151-month prison sentence after he was found guilty of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes from towing companies in exchange for lucrative towing contracts with Lake County.

If Buncich files a renewed challenge to his convictions based on the Snyder precedent it likely still will take several months, or even a year or more, for a federal court to determine whether the Supreme Court decision applies to Buncich's case.

Ironically, Buncich and Snyder both were initially indicted on the same day — Nov. 18, 2016 — following extensive public corruption investigations by the FBI and IRS, assisted by the Indiana State Police.

Snyder has yet to serve a day in prison following his 2021 convictions for federal funds bribery and tax obstruction. His 21-month sentence is likely to be adjusted downward after the Supreme Court ordered the reversal of Snyder's bribery conviction.