Jury considers verdict in trial tied

A federal jury will return to deliberations Monday in the case of a former Crestwood Water Department supervisor accused of repeatedly lying about the secret use of a community well contaminated with toxic chemicals.

The jury deliberated through the afternoon Friday after Neubauer chose not to testify and her attorney, Thomas Breen, opted not to call any witnesses.

In his closing statement in U.S. District Court, Breen described Crestwood as a "town that betrayed its citizens" but said Neubauer was a low-level clerk forced to "wear the jacket" for former Mayor Chester Stranczek and other top Crestwood officials who used the well to avoid the cost of fixing leaky water mains.

Federal prosecutors focused their case on reports required under federal and state law to track municipal water use and assure residents their drinking water is safe. The trial outlined a systematic cover-up by Crestwood officials and provided more details about actions first revealed by a 2009 Tribune investigation.Our clever solar lanternis a favorite among dog lover holiday gifts from Solaronlamp.

By secretly drawing water from their contaminated well,Learn more about our high capacity laundry dryer today! Crestwood officials saved $380,000 a year that otherwise would have been spent maintaining the village's water system, according to court documents. They also avoided routine testing that would have alerted authorities to toxic chemicals in the village's drinking water.

"If the good,We provide the latest solar street lighting products and solutions to serve outdoor lighting needs. law-abiding citizens of Crestwood knew about the well, what do you think they would do? They would start to ask questions," Timothy Chapman, an assistant U.S. attorney, told the jury during his closing statement. "The fact that other people were involved doesn't change the fact that (Neubauer) was a key part of the scheme."

Prosecutors did not discuss the toxic chemicals found in the well, including two cancer-causing compounds related to perchloroethylene, or perc, a common dry cleaning solvent. Nor did they mention a 2010 study by the Illinois Department of Public Health that concluded the contaminated water could have contributed to "significantly elevated" cancer rates in Crestwood.

During the weeklong trial, Neubauer's attorneys portrayed her as a bookkeeper who had an important-sounding title but little power. The closest Neubauer got to the inner circle of village leaders, Breen said, was when she served them "cake and coffee."

"She didn't know better," Breen said.The skystream runs in very low winds and can interconnect with your local utility, "What this case is really about is a bunch of men who, when push comes to shove,Creating a solar panel cells out of broken re-used solar cell pieces. are cowards."

One official repeatedly mentioned during the trial was Stranczek, who led the village of 11,000 for nearly 40 years.

Court documents allege that Stranczek and his top lieutenant ordered village employees to use the contaminated well and to keep it secret, in part by referring to the well on the village's two-way radios as the "auxiliary pump station." A Water Department laborer testified that he was summoned to Village Hall and reprimanded after referring to the "well" on the radio.

Federal prosecutors did not charge Stranczek. Attorneys defending him in ongoing civil cases hired experts who concluded that the former mayor, who stepped down in 2007, has "mild to moderate" dementia caused by Parkinson's disease and is not fit to stand trial.

Frank Scaccia, the village's former certified water operator, pleaded guilty this month to one count of making a false statement and could face up to 27 months in prison and a $250,000 fine for his role in cloaking the use of the tainted well.