United States Attorney David Capp

Northern District of Indiana

5400 Federal Plaza, Suite 1500

Hammond, Indiana 46320

Hammond South Bend Fort Wayne

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mary Hatton

February 15, 2013 PHONE: (219) 937-5603

www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ FAX (219) 852-2770

WEEK IN REVIEW – HAMMOND

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

INDICTMENT:

Jazneen Williams, 22, of Gary, Indiana, was charged in an Indictment returned on 10/17/12 with making materially false statements in connection with the purchase of a firearm and making false statements about information required to be kept in the records of a Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.

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.

DISPOSITIONS:

Lawrence Zitt, 43, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to 72 months imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Porter County Drug Task Force, the Michigan City Police Department, the Indiana State Police and the LaPorte Metro Operations Drug Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.

Guillermo Briseno, 27, of East Chicago, Indiana, a defendant in the case US v Briseno et al., was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 87 months imprisonment and 4 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the East Chicago Police Department and the Hammond Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

Alejandro Balboa Lara, 21, of Hammond, Indiana, a defendant in the case US v Briseno et al., was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 22 months imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the East Chicago Police Department and the Hammond Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.