Former Mayor, Wife Sentenced in Gambling Scheme

HAMMOND, Ind. (Associated Press) – The former mayor of Lake Station will serve four years in prison and pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines for using campaign money and city food pantry funds to gamble.

Keith Soderquist’s wife, Deborah Soderquist, was also sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hammond on Wednesday. The judge ordered her to serve two years in prison.

The Soderquists must also pay over $26,000 in restitution to Lake Station and the IRS.

A jury found the couple guilty in September of using money from his campaign and the food pantry on dozens of gambling trips to Michigan.

Keith Soderquist also pleaded guilty earlier this year to helping his stepdaughter, Miranda Brakely, hide thousands of dollars she stole from the city during her time as a court clerk.

Brakely was sentenced to six months of home detention.