Another Lake County Official To Plead Guilty To Federal Charges

Another week and yet another Lake County official appears in federal court to plead guilty to federal charges. This week it's Gary City Council member Ronier Scott, who will plead guilty to two counts of failing to file federal income tax returns. According to the plea agreement reported by the Gary Post-Tribune, the tax avoidance by Scott was somewhere between $30,000 to $80,000. He faces up to one year in prison for the charges.

Ronier is the second Gary City Council member to face tax charges this year. Former council member Marilyn Krusas was charged with hiding a $232,000 inheritance so the IRS could not levy a lien against it to collect taxes on income she failed to report over a 20-year period. An East Chicago council member, Juda Parks, was also recently charged with a crime similar to the charges filed against Scott. Parks did not have to resign his seat on the council because he was only charged with a misdemeanor crime.