CROWN POINT | Lake County Councilman Will Smith Jr. will resign Monday in the wake of his conviction last fall on a tax fraud charge.

Smith said in a written statement he passed out after a special council meeting Friday that he wanted to apologize to family, friends and close associates "for my stupidity and poor judgment."

A federal judge is scheduled to sentence Smith Jan. 9 on a federal felony conviction of filing a false tax return. Smith faces up to three years in prison.