A federal jury Tuesday cleared an Indiana businessman who had been accused of bribing officials at the Cook County assessor's office with free golf in return for lowered property assessments — a rare loss for public corruption prosecutors at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
The trial of businessman Robert Mitziga lasted roughly a week. It exposed jurors not just to the inner-workings of the assessor’s office but to the lure of posh, high-end golf clubs — particularly one in southwest Michigan, about 90 miles from Chicago.
“Next to my family, the only other thing I did was play golf,” Mitziga, of Dyer, Indiana, told the jury.
Those jurors Tuesday found Mitziga not guilty of bribery and a bribery conspiracy. Mitziga looked stunned as he left the courtroom after the verdict was read. His defense attorneys, Nancy DePodesta and Gabrielle Sansonetti, later said in a statement that "the criminal justice system worked today and we were proud to be part of it."
"Mr. Mitziga is grateful to the jury for its careful consideration of this case," they added.
Several others have faced charges related to the scheme. Former Cook County assessor employees Basilio Clausen and Lavdim Memisovski and business owner Alex Nitchoff have pleaded guilty. A third former assessor’s office employee, Lumni Likovski, is set to face trial in February, and charges are pending against Nitchoff employee John Bodendorfer.
The alleged schemes largely took place when Joseph Berrios was the Cook County assessor. Berrios has not been charged with wrongdoing.
Clausen and Memisovski each took the stand during Mitziga’s trial. Repeatedly, Clausen told jurors that he understood he would be working to have property assessments lowered for Mitziga, as well as for an uncharged friend of Mitziga’s, in exchange for free rounds of golf at the Lost Dunes Golf Club in Bridgman, Mich.
Property assessments are a key factor in calculating property taxes.
Mitziga took the stand in his own defense and denied there was any such deal. He told jurors he once considered Clausen to be one of his “best friends” and said he “would have done anything for him.” So when Clausen asked if he could take advantage of Mitziga’s membership at Lost Dunes, Mitziga agreed.
Meanwhile, Mitziga said he thought Clausen had simply given him friendly advice about having property assessments lowered.
“I think I was being played,” Mitziga testified. “We were close friends, but I think he had a motive.”
Crucially, Mitziga was not caught on secret government wiretaps, a fact stressed by DePodesta and Sansonetti during the trial. Assistant U.S. attorneys Richard Rothblatt and Jared Jodrey pointed instead to the testimony of Clausen and Memisovski.
“They told you what happened, why it happened and how it happened,” Jodrey reminded the jury during closing arguments Monday.
Prosecutors alleged that Mitziga sought Clausen’s help in 2017 appealing property assessments tied to businesses owned by Mitziga and his friend. Mitziga co-owned a company called Fence Masters, which used property owned by a separate Mitziga partnership.
The feds say Mitziga told Clausen that, if Clausen helped lower the assessments, then “you guys” could be guests at Lost Dunes.
Clausen told Likovski and Memisovski about the deal, and the three men agreed to use their positions at the assessor’s office to lower the property assessments, according to Mitziga’s 2023 indictment. That included making sure the appeals got to Memisovski.
An FBI special agent testified that the lowered assessments saved the businessmen more than $158,000 in taxes over three years.
Meanwhile, Mitziga arranged for Clausen, Likovski and Memisovski to golf at Lost Dunes in September and October 2017, though Mitziga testified that he didn’t even know Likovski and Memisovski.
Memisovski confirmed for Clausen in a recorded November 2017 phone call that assessments for Mitziga’s friend had been substantially lowered. Clausen called that “absolutely awesome” and told Memisovski he had recently spoken to Mitziga.
“I was talking to [Mitziga] a couple of weeks ago,” Clausen said. “I said, ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I was supposed to go pick up the results for that appeal he had.’ [Mitziga’s] like, ‘Oh sh--, make sure [Memisovski] gives me a better deal than he gets [the friend]. I’m paying for more of this stuff.’”
Nitchoff and Bodendorfer were charged in a separate scheme that also involved Memisovski. Prosecutors say they bribed Memisovski with free home-improvement work and tickets to sporting events in return for lowered property assessments.
