Week In Review – Hammond

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Mary Hatton

www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ FAX (219) 852-2770

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

PLEAS:

Phillip Ramos, II, 25, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.Sentencing has been set for 4/23/13.These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

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:

Francisco Ramirez, 50, of East Chicago, Indiana, a defendant in the case US v Lozano et al., was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 5 months imprisonment, $4,108.50 in restitution, and 1 year of supervised release, to include 5 months of home detention, after pleading guilty to the felony offense of receipt of a bribe by an agent of a local government receiving Federal Funds.Ramirez was the Treasurer of the School City of East Chicago.According to documents filed in this case, the scheme provided that Gerardo Lozano, who operated Greentree Builders, perform free home improvement work at Ramirez’s residence in return for contracts and payments from the School City to Greentree Builders.Ramirez created the work and made sure that the School City could pay for it. In the end, it cost the School City more than $173,000.Ramirez handled almost all of the paperwork, including signing the payment claim forms. The agreement also called for Lozano to overbill the School City. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gary Bell.

James Reynolds, Jr., 46, of Lafayette, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to 30 months imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of making false statements in the purchase of a firearm.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 Nicholas Padilla.

Steven Moten, 53, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 60 months imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of distribution of crack cocaine.According to documents filed in this case, Moten has previous convictions for murder in 1977 and dealing cocaine in 2002.This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.