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

April 27, 2012 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:

PLEAS:

Ø Adnan Shatat, 57, of Crown Point, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior Judge James T. Moody to the felony offense of wire fraud. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diane Berkowitz.

Ø Carlos Ramon Canales, 32, of Lafayette, Indiana, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of distribution of cocaine. Sentencing has been set for 8/1/12. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Grit Task Force. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jacqueline Jacobs.

Ø Benjamin Walton, 30, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior Judge James T. Moody to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Walton has four prior felony convictions, including one prior federal felony conviction for use of a telephone in aid of a narcotics offense, one prior felony conviction for battery by bodily waste, and two prior felony convictions for possession of cocaine. This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives HIDTA Task Force and the Gary Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.

Ø Ismail Bashir, 33, of Country Club Hills, Illinois, pled guilty before Senior Judge James T. Moody to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Bashir has a prior felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance. This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and Griffith Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.

Ø Brian Reider, 51, of Valparaiso, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior Judge James T. Moody to the felony offenses of production of child pornography and distributing child pornography. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Kokomo Police Department and the Highland Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.

Ø Jesus Ramirez, 41, of Chicago, Illinois, pled guilty before to the felony offense of kidnapping. 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 Joshua Kolar.

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:

Ø Jonathan Lowery, 29, of Cedar Lake, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Rudy Lozano to 46 months imprisonment and 4 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

Ø George Alfaro, Jr., 45, of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 77 months imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the sentencing memorandum filed by the government in this case, Alfaro was convicted of multiple crimes involving violence and/or assaults on officers, firearms offenses, and offenses involving alcohol. The Defendant’s criminal history started in 1989 and continued unabated, except for stints in jail, until the present time. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Gary Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.

Ø John Stoltenburg, 27, of Cedar Lake, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Rudy Lozano to 1 day imprisonment, with credit for time served, and 3 years of supervised release followed by 8 months of home detention 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. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

Ø Reginald Jones, 34, of University Park, Illinois, a defendant in the case US v Powell et al., was sentenced by Judge Rudy Lozano to 97 months imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute one kilo or more of heroin. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

Ø Reginald Jones, 47, of University Park, Illinois, a defendant in the case US v Powell et al., was sentenced by Judge Rudy Lozano to 87 months imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

Ø Peter Buschmann, 60, of Lafayette, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen time served and 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. According to the Sentencing Memorandum filed by the government in this case, Buschmann has multiple prior convictions for operating while intoxicated and possessed ten firearms and ammunition. 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 Dean Lanter.

Ø Brandon Lee, 34, of Hobart, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 63 months imprisonment and 4 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine.

According to Count One of the Indictment, the object of the conspiracy was to obtain methamphetamine, secure monetary profits and satisfy controlled substance addictions by successfully collecting precursor chemicals (pseudoephedrine tablets) and equipment used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, manufacturing or “cooking” methamphetamine, and distributing methamphetamine. Lee utilized numerous co-conspirators to conduct a “smurfing” operation wherein they would instruct these individuals to travel to various business locations in the Northern District of Indiana, to procure pseudoephedrine for the manufacture of methamphetamine.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Indiana State Police and the Porter County Sheriff’s Office. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

Ø Matthew Wolwark, 29, of Crown Point, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Rudy Lozano to 12 months and 1 day imprisonment and 1 year of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of heroin. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.