Times Staff Report

INDIANAPOLIS| Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter on Friday said Lake County Councilman Will Smith should step down immediately.

"I think sometimes public officials should look at the honorable thing to do, and what clearly would be the honorable thing (would be) for him to step out of the picture at this point," Steve Carter said. "I hope he does that. And if he doesn't, I'm sure there will be more efforts in the Legislature to make sure that convicted criminals don't continue to draw public sector salaries while they're awaiting sentencing."

Carter's comments follow Smith's conviction last month in Hammond federal court on a charge of filing a false tax return. Smith was acquitted of fraud charges in the same case in which he and two other defendants were accused of illegally profiting from the sale of a building to the now defunct Gary Urban Enterprise Association.

Gary attorney Willie Harris and Roosevelt Powell, a former tax collector for the county, were found guilty in the same trial of a conspiracy charge they illegally profited from a fraudulent legal settlement that cheated local government out of taxes that should have been paid.

Following the jury's guilty verdict, Smith, who was Lake County Council president when he was indicted in the case, should have stepped down immediately, Carter said.

"I'm surprised he didn't do it the day after he was convicted," Carter said. "It clearly looks like he's putting self interest above that of representing his constituents.

"I wouldn't think he would have much credibility with his other council members now when he attends a meeting as a convicted felon."

But Smith and his attorneys have argued that the embattled official need not step down until after he is sentenced in the matter.

"I'm acting on opinion from county attorneys," Smith said Friday, reacting to Carter's statement. "I didn't have to step down from my office until my sentence: That was the opinion of my county attorney."

Though a federal jury convicted him of the crime, Smith also said he believes he is not technically convicted until sentencing.