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Press Release

Week In Review – Fort Wayne

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Indiana

  Fort Wayne, Indiana — The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in Federal Court:

PLEAS

  • Kelvin B. Walker, 49, of Fort Wayne, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of filing a false claim. The magistrate judge is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea.  Parties have 14 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Fort Wayne Police Department.  Sentencing will be set by separate order by the district court.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lovita Morris King.
  • Marvin Bennett, 38, of Fort Wayne, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm.  The magistrate judge is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea.  Parties have 14 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fort Wayne Police Department.  Sentencing will be set by separate order by the district court.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lovita Morris King.

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

  • Alejandro V. Luna, 31, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced to 151 months imprisonment with 5 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of knowingly conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine.  According to documents filed in the case, this investigation began with controlled buys of powder and crack cocaine and progressed with wiretaps of several cocaine suppliers.  Luna was identified as a distributor of one of the conspiracies. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fort Wayne Safe Streets Task Force, Indiana State Police, Fort Wayne Police Department, Allen County Police Department, Allen County Drug Task Force and the New Haven Police Department.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.
  • Efren Paniagua-Pizano, 36, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced to time served without any supervised release period after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  According to documents filed in this case, between July 2011 and February 2013 Paniagua-Pizano was involved in a large scale narcotics distribution conspiracy operating in Northwestern Indiana and Southern lower Michigan. Through the use of wiretaps, it was discovered that Paniagua-Pizano was involved in distributing and facilitating the distribution of quantities of cocaine to individuals.  This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Fort Wayne Safe Streets Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  The Fort Wayne Safe Streets Task Force is comprised of FBI agents and officers from the Indiana State Police, Allen County Police Department, and Fort Wayne Police Department.  The New Haven Police Department, Steuben County Sheriff's Department, Elkhart County Interdiction and Covert Enforcement Unit, South Bend Police Department, and IMAGE Drug Task Force assisted with this investigation.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley J. Miller Lowery.

TRIAL

  • Antonio Burgos Sr., of Fort Wayne, was found guilty by a jury on each of three counts charging violations of 18 U.S.C. 514.  Burgos was charged with passing and mailing interstate, fraudulent and fictitious checks purported to be written off an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Virginia.  Burgos presented one of the fictitious checks for $10,000 at a local banking institution when he opened a checking account in March 2011.  Also in March 2011, Burgos mailed from Fort Wayne Indiana to Chicago Illinois two more fictitious checks in the amounts of $20,000 and $40,000 respectively, one of which was deposited into an Illinois bank and was returned to the bank unpaid.  At trial, a representative from the Federal Reserve Bank testified that the Federal Reserve does not maintain accounts for individuals. The case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.  Sentencing will be set by separate order by the district 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.

Updated April 30, 2015