Michigan City Woman Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison

SOUTH BEND – Latavia Fleming, 43 years old, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced on February 24, 2022, by United States District Court Chief Judge Jon E. DeGuilio after pleading guilty to making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Fleming was sentenced to 21 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release. 

According to documents in the case, over the course of several months in 2020, Fleming bought multiple firearms at gun stores.  During the purchases, Fleming falsely represented she was the actual buyer of the firearms when she was not.  In fact, she bought one firearm for an individual who could not legally purchase firearms.  She provided one firearm to a convicted felon who then sold it to someone else.  She also sold or traded firearms to several other individuals.  

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the Michigan City Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Molly E. Donnelly.

This case was being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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