{"id":161301,"date":"2021-01-14T10:21:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T18:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=161301"},"modified":"2021-01-14T11:20:26","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T19:20:26","slug":"former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Whiting, Indiana Mayor Dodges Prison Sentence After Gambling Campaign Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former mayor of Whiting, Ind.<\/a> told a court that he did have a gambling problem. He escaped a prison sentence for plundering his campaign funds for money to blow in casinos on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Stahura\"
Stahura and his attorney, Kerry Connor, leaving the federal courthouse in Hammond, Indiana in September after the former Whiting mayor pleaded guilty. (Image: Chicago Tribune<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joseph Stahura<\/a> resigned after 16 years as mayor of the city in Lake County in the Chicago metropolitan area last August. A month later, he pleaded guilty in a federal court in Hammond to charges tied to the misuse of around $255,000 since 2014.<\/p>\n

Indiana politicians are prohibited from using political campaign funds for personal use and are required to itemize expenditures of $100 or more.<\/p>\n

Stahura, 68, and his wife, Diane, 64, spent the money on trips to mostly out-of-state casinos. They also used it to pay off credit cards, income tax, and medical bills, according to court filings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prosecutors traced about 50 visits to casinos between March 2014 and October 2019 via ATM withdrawals totaling around $55,000.<\/p>\n

County History of Corruption <\/strong><\/h2>\n

A federal court in Hammond found Stahura guilty of wire fraud and filing a false income tax return. But the judge opted to show leniency, sentencing him to two years\u2019 probation, one year home detention, and a $7,500 fine. As part of his plea deal, he has dropped his right to appeal the sentence.<\/p>\n

Stahura had faced up to 20 years on the wire fraud charge and three years on the false return charge, and fines of up to $250,000 for both.<\/p>\n

Diane Stahura, who accompanied her husband to court, has accepted a deferred prosecution agreement, and she will avoid charges if she complies with its terms.<\/p>\n

\n

According to The Chicago Tribune<\/em>, prosecutors pushed for a custodial sentence for the former major, because Lake County politicians have a history of corruption.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But Judge James T. Moody agreed with Stahura\u2019s lawyer, Kerry Connor, that the former mayor\u2019s crimes were less serious than some of his counterparts who had been found guilty of accepting bribes.<\/p>\n

A Different Type of Politician?<\/h2>\n

\u201cStahura\u2019s conduct was wrong and illegal, but it didn\u2019t impact his role as mayor, and I think that\u2019s an important distinction,\u201d said Stahura\u2019s lawyer, Kerry Connor. \u201cMr. Stahura\u2019s conduct was significantly different that these other politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge also noted the defendant\u2019s contrition and the fact that he had paid most of the money back. Stahura apologized to the court for his conduct, saying he deeply regretted his actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve not only embarrassed my wife, my family, and the residents of Whiting but everyone who believed in me,\u201d Stahura said.<\/p>\n

Moody was impressed: \u201cYou\u2019re different,\u201d <\/strong>he said. \u201cI\u2019ve handled numerous corrupt Lake County politicians. You\u2019re the first to show remorse for what you did.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The former mayor of Whiting, Ind. told a court that he did have a gambling problem. He escaped a prison sentence for plundering his campaign funds for money to blow in casinos on Wednesday. Joseph Stahura resigned after 16 years as mayor of the city in Lake County in the Chicago metropolitan area last August. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":161305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Whiting, Indiana Mayor Stahura Dodges Prison Sentence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Joseph Stahura, former mayor of Whiting, Indiana spared a prison sentence by Judge James. Moody for gambling his campaign funds in casinos.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Whiting, Indiana Mayor Stahura Dodges Prison Sentence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joseph Stahura, former mayor of Whiting, Indiana spared a prison sentence by Judge James. Moody for gambling his campaign funds in casinos.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-14T18:21:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-14T19:20:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joseph.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/\",\"name\":\"Former Whiting, Indiana Mayor Stahura Dodges Prison Sentence\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joseph.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-14T18:21:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-14T19:20:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Joseph Stahura, former mayor of Whiting, Indiana spared a prison sentence by Judge James. Moody for gambling his campaign funds in casinos.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joseph.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joseph.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Stahura and his attorney, Kerry Connor, leaving the federal courthouse in Hammond, Indiana in September after the former Whiting mayor pleaded guilty. (Chicago Tribune)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legal\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Former Whiting, Indiana Mayor Dodges Prison Sentence After Gambling Campaign Funds\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former Whiting, Indiana Mayor Stahura Dodges Prison Sentence","description":"Joseph Stahura, former mayor of Whiting, Indiana spared a prison sentence by Judge James. Moody for gambling his campaign funds in casinos.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former Whiting, Indiana Mayor Stahura Dodges Prison Sentence","og_description":"Joseph Stahura, former mayor of Whiting, Indiana spared a prison sentence by Judge James. Moody for gambling his campaign funds in casinos.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-01-14T18:21:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-14T19:20:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joseph.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/","name":"Former Whiting, Indiana Mayor Stahura Dodges Prison Sentence","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joseph.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-14T18:21:44+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-14T19:20:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Joseph Stahura, former mayor of Whiting, Indiana spared a prison sentence by Judge James. Moody for gambling his campaign funds in casinos.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joseph.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/joseph.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Stahura and his attorney, Kerry Connor, leaving the federal courthouse in Hammond, Indiana in September after the former Whiting mayor pleaded guilty. (Chicago Tribune)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-whiting-indiana-mayor-stahura-dodges-prison-sentence\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legal","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Former Whiting, Indiana Mayor Dodges Prison Sentence After Gambling Campaign Funds"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}