Week In Review – Hammond

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Mary Hatton

www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ CELL: (219) 314-9993

mary.hatton@usdoj.gov

Hammond, Indiana - The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in Federal Court:

INDICTMENT:

Michael English, 33, of Gary, Indiana, was charged with 3 counts of distribution of marijuana, 1 count of possession of firearms by a convicted felon and 1 count of possession of an unregistered firearm.These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Gary Police Department.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Armando Salinas.

The United States Attorney's Office emphasized that an Indictment is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

PLEAS:

Diamond Toney, 20, of Merrillville, Indiana, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of aiding and abetting the brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence.Sentencing has been set for 11/25/13.This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force and the Merrillville Police Department.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

Jose Ortiz, 32, of Chicago, Illinois, a defendant in the case US v Yepez et al., pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Chang-Adiga and Thomas McGrath.

Antonio Wilson, 31, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of distribution of cocaine base within 1000 feet of a school.This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Gary Police Department.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas McGrath.

Timothy Yatsko, 41, of Lake Station, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession of a firearm.This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives HIDTA Task Force.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas McGrath.

If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

DISPOSITIONS:

Steven Biggs, 61, of Gary, Indiana, a defendant in the case US v Crawford et al., was sentenced by Senior District Judge James Moody to 1 year of probation after pleading guilty to the felony offense of use of a communication facility to facilitate a conspiracy to distribute marijuana. According to documents filed in this case, Biggs purchased marijuana in a sufficient quantity to redistribute a portion to his friends for purposes of subsidizing his own use of marijuana. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jacqueline Jacobs.

Hector Garcia, 35, of Cicero, Illinois, a defendant in the case US v Vasquez et al., was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 37 months of imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offenses of possession and distribution of cocaine.This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

David Hardin, Jr., 25, of Gary, Indiana, a defendant in the case US v Miller et al., was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to 365 months of imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and $79,919.56 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of the bank robbery of BMO Harris Bank in Hammond, Indiana.According to documents filed in this case, a Hammond police officer was shot three times in his leg during the robbery.This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

Jeffrey A. Smith, 33, of Valparaiso, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 84 months imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of child pornography.According to documents filed by the government in this case, Smith “friended” the victim on MySpace and asked the victim, who he knew to be 15 years old at the time, to send him sexually explicit photos of herself.Smith also transported the victim in interstate commerce, in this case from Ohio to Indiana, with the intent that she engage in sexual activity. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.

Deanbra Martin, 33, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 33 months imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. According to documents filed in this case, Martin was on probation at the time of the instant offense.This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Michigan City Police Department.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.