East Chicago City Councilman Robert Battle was sworn into office, even though he is behind bars on drug and murder charges.
Just one month after it was announced that Battle was facing federal charges for the murder of Reimundo Camarillo Jr. during a drug deal, Battle took the oath of office in person from Indiana’s Porter County Jail. The Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds said that an official was brought into the jail for the swearing-in ceremony.
Battle was re-elected to his council seat in November getting 308 votes running unopposed.
Even though he’s in jail, Indiana law allows him to keep his council seat and collect his $42,365 salary and $12K in pension benefits.
The councilman can lose all of that if he resigns, admits the charges or is found guilty in court. He maintains via his lawyer that he still keps up wit hcity business from behind bars.