United States Attorney David Capp

Northern District of Indiana

E. Ross Adair Federal Building & United States Courthouse

1300 South Harrison Street, Room 3128

Fort Wayne, IN 46802-3489

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         CONTACT: Mary L. Hatton

March 9, 2010                                                                             PHONE: (219) 937-5603

Fax: (219) 852-2770

FEDERAL GRAND JURY IN FORT WAYNE RETURNS INDICTMENT

Fort Wayne, IN—The United States Attorney's Office announced the following activity in federal court:

Christopher Ramirez, 34, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced on 3/8/10 before Judge William Lee to 240 months imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography. These charges were the result of an extensive cooperative law enforcement effort by member agencies of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Hamilton County Metro ICAC Task Force, and the Indiana State Police. This case was part of an ongoing investigative effort, led by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, to combat Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing of child pornography in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller Lowery.

Bernard Squires, 65, of Columbia City, Indiana, plead guilty on 3/2/10 before Judge Theresa Springmann to distribution of materials depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. Sentencing has been set for June 7, 2010. This charge was the result of an extensive cooperative law enforcement effort by member agencies of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Hamilton County Metro ICAC Task Force, and the Indiana State Police. This case was part of an ongoing investigative effort, led by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, to combat Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing of child pornography in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area. This caseis being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller Lowery.

The specific sentence in each case to be imposed upon conviction will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.