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Friday, June 26, 2009

Ind. Decisions - "Witness against Cantrell spared jail"

Dan Hinkel reported in the NWI Times Thursday:

HAMMOND | Nancy Fromm, the addiction counseling contractor who helped federal prosecutors put Democratic fixer Robert Cantrell in jail, was sentenced Thursday to two years probation.

Hammond federal Senior Judge Rudy Lozano sentenced Fromm to spend the first six months of the two years on home arrest with work privileges.

Fromm was spared jail time because she helped with the Cantrell prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Orest Szewciw filed a motion asking Lozano to give Fromm a more lenient sentence than the 18 to 24 months in jail suggested in federal sentencing guidelines.

"It led to his conviction," Szewciw said.

"I think it's fair to say she's the only one who could tell the whole story," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Ault.

Fromm's addiction counseling business, Addiction and Family Care, stood at the center of the investigation into Cantrell. Fromm pleaded guilty in March 2007 to obstructing justice and tax evasion, admitting she illegally hid her business profits from a grand jury and under-reported her personal income in 2003.

Fromm helped prosecutors convince a jury to convict Cantrell of 11 fraud counts. Cantrell used his political links to draw business to Fromm, and he took a cut of the profits.

Cantrell is now serving a 6 and 1/2 year sentence in a Kentucky federal prison.

Here is a list of earlier, related ILB entries.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 26, 2009 01:13 PM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions