Federal Grand Jury In South Bend Returns Indictments

South Bend, IN—The United States Attorney's Office announced that a Grand Jury sitting in South Bend, Indiana, returned the following Indictments on March 12, 2014:

Andre Allen Forbes, 31, of South Bend, Indiana, was charged in a seven-count Indictment with one-count of distributing cocaine, four-counts of distributing crack cocaine, one-count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one-count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.Charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the South Bend Police Department – Metro Special Operations Section and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald J. Schmid.

Brian M. Kandefer, 36, of San Diego, California, and K2 Capital Management Inc. located in LaJolla, California were both charged in a fifty-one-count Indictment.Kandefer was charged with twenty-counts of wire fraud, twenty-counts of mail fraud, one-count of conspiracy to commit fraud, and ten-counts of money laundering.K2 Capital Management Inc. was charged with twenty-counts of wire fraud, twenty-counts of mail fraud, and one-count of conspiracy to commit fraud.Charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald J. Schmid.

Erskine A. Jones, 22, of South Bend, Indiana, was charged in a one-count Indictment with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.Charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the South Bend Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald J. Schmid.

Demarcus Moran, 23, of South Bend, Indiana, was charged in a one-count Indictment with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.Charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the South Bend Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald J. Schmid.

Wanda C. Shorter, 43, of Elkhart, Indiana and Empowerment Non-Emergency Medical Transportation, Inc. located in Elkhart, Indiana, were both charged in a four-count Indictment with one-count of healthcare fraud and three-counts of aggravated identity theft.Charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Indiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald J. Schmid.

Otis A. Tate, 25, of South Bend, Indiana, was charged in a two-count Indictment with one-count being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, and one-count possessing a stolen firearm.Charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the South Bend Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald J. Schmid.

Aaron Mendoza, 34, of South Bend, Indiana, was charged in a one count Indictment with illegal alien in possession of a firearm.These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank E. Schaffer.

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.

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.