District Judge Staci Yandle reset a trial in several St. Clair County residents’ bid rigging suit against former treasurer Charles Suarez and several tax buyers.
Yandle vacated the current jury trial, which had been set for Aug. 7.
Jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 12, 2018, at 9 a.m. at the Benton Courthouse.
The parties filed a joint motion to extend the trial date and all related deadlines on June 13.
They argued that the court has not yet ruled on the plaintiffs’ pending motion for class certification or the defendants’ motions for summary judgment, which “will have a significant impact on the scope of the trial as well as the evidence and witnesses that will be necessary for trial.”
They argued “time is now too short to take all necessary steps before the scheduled August 7, 2017 trial date.”
According to the complaint, two couples sued St. Clair County, Suarez and several tax buyers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on Oct. 17, 2014, alleging a conspiracy similar to one that sent former Madison County treasurer Fred Bathon to prison.
John Bloyer Jr., Adrianne Bloyer, Kevin Dvorak and Kathleen Dvorak, all of O’Fallon, claim the alleged conspirators artificially inflated interest rates at tax sales in 2007 and 2008. They claim Suarez illegally rigged bids at sales of delinquent taxes to enrich Democratic campaign contributors.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:14-cv-1119