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

May 2, 2012 PHONE: (219) 937-5603

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

FOUR CHARGED IN THIRTY COUNT INDICTMENT RETURNED TODAY IN FEDERAL COURT

Hammond, Indiana- United States Attorney David Capp announced today another major indictment in his office’s ongoing federal-local law enforcement effort focused on violent crime in Northwest Indiana. Today’s indictment names four defendants who are alleged, in various combinations, to have committed 15 armed robberies in East Chicago, Gary, Hammond and Merrillville over the past 10 months.

The Indictment charges Nathan Elmore, 21, Lavelle Hatley, 17, Jeremiah Stevenson, 22, all of Gary, Indiana, and Seandell Rounds, 20, of Riverdale, Illinois with the following robberies:

Lavelle Hatley	Subway, Gary, Indiana	June 24, 2011
Seandell Rounds	Subway, Gary, Indiana	July 17, 2011
Nathan Elmore /Lavelle Hatley	Rally’s, Gary, Indiana	September 29, 2011
Nathan Elmore/Lavelle Hatley	Family Dollar, Gary, Indiana	October 11, 2011
Nathan Elmore/Lavelle Hatley	Family Dollar, Gary, Indiana	October 24, 2011
Lavelle Hatley	Domino’s Pizza, Merrillville, Indiana	October 25, 2011
Nathan Elmore/Lavelle Hatley	Church’s Chicken, Gary, Indiana	October 25, 2011
Nathan Elmore/Lavelle Hatley	KFC, Gary, Indiana	November 3, 2011
Nathan Elmore	Rally’s, Gary, Indiana	January 14, 2012
Nathan Elmore/Lavelle Hatley	Auto Zone, Gary, Indiana	January 20, 2012
Nathan Elmore/Jeremiah Stevenson	Game Stop, Hammond, Indiana	January 20, 2012
Nathan Elmore/Lavelle Hatley/Jeremiah Stevenson	Auto Zone, Hammond, Indiana	February 2, 2012
Nathan Elmore/Jeremiah Stevenson	Tech Credit Union, East Chicago, Indiana	February 7, 2012
Lavelle Hatley	KFC, Merrillville, Indiana	February 13, 2012
Lavelle Hatley/Seandell Rounds	Auto Zone, Merrillville, Indiana	February 14, 2012

Each robbery also carries one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of, during and in relation to the robberies.

All have been in custody since February 2012 and will be arraigned before Magistrate Judge Andrew Rodovich on May 18, 2012.

This indictment was the result of a cooperative law enforcement effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the East Chicago, Gary Police Department, the Hammond Police Department and the Merrillville Police Department.

“We will continue to work in partnership with our police departments to focus federal resources on alleged violent offenders” stated United States Attorney David Capp. “Our objective is to remove these offenders from the streets. Once arrested, we will seek to hold them with no bond. These four defendants have all been ordered held without bond. If convicted of the charges, we will seek substantial federal sentences to keep these violent offenders off the streets.”

Capp continued, “Persons in Northwest Indiana who are involved in criminal gangs or other violent crime need to understand that we are focusing our efforts on them and, when appropriate, we will bring the full weight of the federal criminal system on them.”

This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dean Lanter and Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

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.

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.