United States Attorney David Capp
Northern District of Indiana
M01-204 S. Main Street
South Bend, IN 46601
Hammond South Bend Fort Wayne
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mary L. Hatton March 18, 2011 PHONE: (219) 937-5603 www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ Fax: (219) 852-2770WEEK IN REVIEW-FEDERAL COURT
South Bend, IN—The United States Attorney's Office announced:Darriea Lax, 24, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 5months imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to count two of an indictment charging her with unlawful transport of a firearm. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Project Disarm Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.
Justin Myers, 25, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Jon DeGuilio to 12 months and one day imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release after being found guilty at trial to count two of an indictment charging him with making false statements to the government by stating that a firearm he purchased had been stolen, when in fact it had not. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.
Marva Bernard, 71, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Neuchterlein to count one of an indictment charging her with health care billing fraud. At Your Service Transport Provider located in Gary, Indiana, was an enrolled Medicaid provider. In 2009 and continuing in 2010, Bernard participated in and helped to execute a health care fraud billing scheme. As part of the fraud scheme, the defendant received from a co-conspirator lists of Indiana Medicaid patients and their identifying information. The defendant did so without proper authorization and to facilitate fraudulent billings to Medicaid. Bernard caused fraudulent billing claims for services to be sent to Indiana Medicaid and its contracted representative for payment. In particular, the defendant caused billings and claims for reimbursement to be sent to Indiana Medicaid for transportation services that were never in fact provided. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.
David Carter, 75, of Mishiwaka, Indiana, pled guilty before to count one of an information charging him with possession of material containing child pornography. Carter admitted in a plea agreement that he downloaded on a computer, and stored, approximately 11,000 images and 885 videos depicting child pornography. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.
William Easley, 24, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 188 months imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to counts one, two, three and four of an information charging him with bank robbery by force. Easley was ordered to pay $14,189.79 in restitution to 1st Source Bank. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.
Matthew Fiandt, 25, of Elkhart, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 15 months imprisonment and years of supervised release after pleading guilty to count one of an indictment charging him with unlawful transport of firearms. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Indiana State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.
Caleb Smith, 25, of Michigan City, Indiana, pled guilty before Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to an information charging him with unlawful transport of firearms. Sentencing has been set for 6/23/11. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.
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.