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
August 10, 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 activity in Federal Court:
PLEAS:
Ø Maria Guadalupe Sustaita,
50, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to the felony offense of aggravated identity theft
and obstruction of correspondence. Sentencing
has been set for 11/7/12. These charges
were filed as a result of an investigation by the United States Postal
Inspection Service. This case is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Houston.
Ø Serina Arambula, 23, of Chicago, Illinois,
pled guilty before Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of withholding
information regarding the events of the murder of Edward Delattore. Sentencing has been set for 11/14/12. These charges were filed as a result of an
investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant
United States Attorney David Nozick and Department of Justice Trial Attorney
Joseph Cooley.
Ø Deandre Williams, 18, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before
Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of the armed robbery of Harrison
Gas and Convenience store in Gary, Indiana.
Sentencing has been set for 11/29/12.
These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, the East Chicago Police Department, the Gary Police
Department, the Hammond Police Department and the Merrillville Police
Department. This case is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.
Ø Lance Payton, 34, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled
guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon. Sentencing has been set for 11/28/12. These charges were filed as a result of an
investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
HIDTA Task Force. This case is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.
Ø Bianca Fernandez, 23, of Chicago, Illinois, a
defendant in the case US v Vargas et al.,
pled guilty before Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of conspiracy to
murder in aid of racketeering activity.
These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement
Administration; Federal Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Immigration and
Custom Office of Homeland Security Investigations; the National Gang Targeting,
Enforcement & Coordination Center; the National Gang Intelligence Center;
the Chicago Police Department; the East Chicago Police Department; the Griffith
Police Department; the Hammond Police Department; the Highland Police
Department; and the Houston Police Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David
J. Nozick, and Joseph A. Cooley, Trial Attorney, United States Department of
Justice - Organized Crime and Gang Section.
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 Wayne Wigglesworth, 71, of Valparaiso, Indiana, was
sentenced by Senior Judge James Moody to 120 months imprisonment and 10 years
of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of coercion
and enticement of a minor. According to
the Complaint filed in this case, the investigation began in August 2009 when
Wigglesworth was pulled over by law enforcement after making a turn without
signaling properly. During the course of
the field interview, officers asked the driver, Wigglesworth, the name of his
passenger and why the passenger, a minor, was in his vehicle. Wigglesworth could not answer the
question. The officers asked the minor
the drivers name and he said he didn’t know.
The minor boy told the officers that he met Wigglesworth in an Internet
chat room and had been in contact with him for 2 or 3 weeks. Wigglesworth arranged to meet the boy at a
specific location. Upon arriving, the
boy entered Wigglesworth’s car. They
were stopped about 3 blocks away for the traffic violation. This case was the result of an investigation
by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against
Children Task Force, including ICE-Department of Homeland Security and the
Chicago Police Department. This case was
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.
Ø William Dutro, 34, of Lake
Station, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Rudy Lozano to 121 months imprisonment
and 15 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense
of receipt of child pornography.
According to the Complaint filed by the government in this case, an officer
with the Richmond (Indiana) Police Department, Cyber Crime Unit, used a P2P
software program to locate computers sharing known child pornography images and
videos within the state of Indiana and the Northern District of Indiana. The officer located files using terms
synonymous with child pornography located at an IP address that was assigned to
Dutro. Law
enforcement executed a search warrant on Dutro’s
residence locating numerous child pornography related file titles. Dutro admitted in
his plea agreement that he possessed material which involved a prepubescent
minor, material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or violence, and
that he possessed in excess of 600 images.
This case was the result of an investigation by This case resulted from
an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children
Task Force, including the ICE-Department of Homeland Security and the Indiana
State Police. This case was prosecuted
by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.