Calumet Township Trustee Kimberly Robinson announced Friday that she’s resigning from that office, effective immediately.
In a statement she provided to the Post-Tribune Sunday, Robinson expressed her “deepest gratitude to each and every one” of her constituents for “the trust and support” they’d extended to her while she was in office. She didn’t give a reason for her resignation but said it was important to issue a statement as people “may begin to hear information related” to it.
Sources confirmed that Robinson is expected to issue a pre-trial guilty plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Hammond.
“It has been an honor to serve this vibrant community, and I am proud of the accomplishments we have achieved together,” Robinson said in the statement. “Recently, our office provided more school uniform vouchers for students in Calumet Township than had ever been distributed in the history of the program. Because of our work, more than 3,000 students were equipped for the first day of school.
“As I step away from this role, I remain hopeful for our township’s future. I am leaving the Township’s operating fund in the black with cash reserves of over $2 million in a rainy-day fund. Additionally, I have every confidence in the leadership that will follow me, and I wholeheartedly support the process of selecting a new trustee who will continue our mission of progress and community service.”
Robinson, a former Gary City Probation officer who represented the city’s 5th District as a councilwoman from 2008 to 2014, defeated Mary Elgin in the May 2014 Democratic primary amid the shadow of a raid by the FBI and IRS two months prior, the Post-Tribune previously reported. She navigated the office through the Town of Griffith’s contentious secession out of Calumet Township and righted its financial ship after years of mismanagement, the Indiana State Board of Accounts declared in 2019.
Elgin pleaded guilty in 2018 to two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of failure to file a tax return.
According to prosecutors, Elgin and her co-defendants — her son, Steven Hunter; former Calumet Township employee Ethel Shelton; and Alex Wheeler — used township employees and offices to run political campaigns and raise money for Elgin’s fundraisers. Elgin was sentenced in May in federal court to a year and a day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to the trustee’s office and $6,311 to the IRS. Hunter, meanwhile, pleaded guilty and received one-year supervised release.
Once she was elected Calumet Township Trustee in November 2014, Robinson left her job as chief of staff for the Lake County treasurer’s office.
Elgin was the second consecutive Calumet Township Trustee convicted on public corruption charges.
In 2007, Dozier Allen, who served as trustee for 32 years, was indicted — five years after he lost to Elgin — on charges that he and three employees steered $120,000 of grant money meant for the township to themselves. A jury found him guilty in April 2009, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Robinson’s mother, Wanda Joshua, served as Allen’s top deputy and was also sentenced in that case. Joshua, who received a 15-month sentence, was defended by former Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
