Week In Review – Hammond

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

PLEAS

• Milton Bell, 51, of Gary, 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.  Sentencing has been set for April 23, 2015.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. McGrath.

• Crescencio Lozano Romero, 37, of Connell, Washington, pled guilty to the felony offense of possession with intent to distribute heroin. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Sentencing has been set for April 16, 2015.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang.

• Jose Ruiz, 37, of Illinois, pled guilty to the felony offense of distribution of cocaine. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Sentencing has been set for April 14, 2015.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang.

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

• Laquintin Abbey, 26, of East Chicago was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment with 2 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of aiding and abetting the straw purchase of a firearm.  According to documents filed in this case, on March 22, 2014, Abbey fraudulently represented to an employee of Cabela’s Retail, a licensed firearms dealership in Hammond, Indiana, that she was the actual purchaser of a firearm when in fact she was purchasing the firearm for someone else.  This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. McGrath.

• Robert Barker, 29, of Calumet City, Illinois was sentenced to 35 months imprisonment with 2 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm.  According to documents filed in this case, Barker coerced an individual who later cooperated with law enforcement to purchase guns on his behalf. Barker utilized this individual to purchase or attempt to purchase 10 guns between October and December 2013.  During this time, Barker was prohibited from possessing firearms because he was a convicted felon. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang.

• Dexter Eugene Howard, 36, of Gary, Indiana was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment with 3 years supervised release after pleading guilty to two felony offenses of Bank Robbery.  According to documents filed in this case, Howard robbed the 5/3 Bank located at 6760 Broadway in Merrillville, Indiana on March 13, 2014. He stole $2,000 cash during this robbery and was ordered by the Court to pay restitution in that amount. Howard also robbed the 5/3 Bank located at 8477 Broadway in Merrillville, Indiana on March 20, 2014. He stole $2,813 cash during this robbery; because the money was  recovered , the court did not order restitution.  This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang.

• Andy Mitchell, 55, of Chicago was sentenced to 24 months’ probation after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.  According to documents filed in this case, on December 18, 2013, the defendant was part of a group who staged automobile accidents in Northwest Indiana and Chicago and subsequently submitted false and fraudulent police reports and insurance claims for property damage.  This case was the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Denise Houston.

• Linda Rosenberg, 60, of Chicago, Illinois was sentenced to 46 months imprisonment with 1 year of supervised release after pleading guilty to a three count information charging the following: Count 1, conspiracy to receive kickbacks for the referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients to service providers; Count 2 dispensing a controlled substance without legitimate medical purpose and; Count 3, misbranding.  This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Drug Administration and Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diane Berkowitz.