Week In Review - Hammond

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

PLEAS

• Jennifer Grcich, 38, of Cedar Lake, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of theft from a federally funded organization.   The magistrate 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Sentencing has not been set.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Philip Benson.

• Rolando Luis Diaz, 31, of Whiting, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of intentionally distributing cocaine and possession of a firearm and ammunition.  The magistrate 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Sentencing has been set for 10/30/14.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nick Padilla.

• Jane Woynaroski, 58 years old, of Valparaiso, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of  theft from a federally funded organization. The magistrate 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Sentencing has been set for 10/15/14.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Philip Benson.

• Jerome Harris, 50, of Gary, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The magistrate 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 11/6/2014.  This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Armando Salinas.

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

• Beaver Bernard Russell, 50, of Chicago, Illinois was sentenced to 140 months imprisonment, 2 years supervised release and to pay $4,520 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of bank robbery.  According to documents filed in this case, on January 5, 2012, Russell robbed a South Bend, Indiana bank.  On January 12, 2012, Russell robbed another bank located in Munster, Indiana.  This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

• Joseph B. Miller, 50, of Chicago, Illinois was sentenced to 225 months imprisonment, 3 years supervised release and to pay $5,606 in restitution after being found guilty of the felony offense of bank robbery.  According to documents filed in this case, Miller robbed a Hammond, Indiana bank on December 13, 2012.  Miller was subsequently arrested, tried and found guilty by jury on June 25, 2013.  This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hammond Police Department.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jacky Jacobs and Diane Berkowitz.

• Christopher Bynum, 27, of Gary, Indiana was sentenced to 41 months imprisonment and 3 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.  According to documents filed in this case, as a result of a joint federal investigation, Bynum was arrested for his participation in a widespread marijuana trafficking organization. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Internal Revenue Service.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jacky Jacobs.