Robert Pastrick gives back to East Chicago. What a role model ...

$108 million, $108 thousand ... it's astonishingly numerical, this mentoring.

Pastrick pays back portion of money owed to EC, by Teresa Auch Schultz (Post-Tribune)

After more than a decade of corruption, voter fraud, numerous legal battles and the downfall of a long-serving mayor, East Chicago finally saw on Thursday a small portion of the $24 million Robert Pastrick and his cronies took from taxpayers.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller joined with East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland to announce the state was returning $331,000 to the city, $145,417 of which came directly from Pastrick, the former mayor.

The amount is just a small portion of the $108 million judgment that a federal judge ruled several years ago that Pastrick must pay, but Zoeller praised its return as giving citizens something concrete.

“It’s more than just a verbal pat on the back,” Zoeller said.