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Press Release

Week In Review – South Bend

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

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

PLEA

  • Gail Waymire, 58, of La Porte, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of wire fraud. 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Sentencing has been set for 02/04/2015.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jesse M. Barrett.

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

  • Maricruz Mendoza, 40, of Elkhart, Indiana was sentenced to 24 months supervised probation, 6 months home detention and ordered to pay $81,452.25 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of theft of government property.  According to documents filed in this case, from in or around August 2009 through September 2011, Mendoza applied for and received, at various times, extended unemployment insurance benefits through the State of Indiana Department of Work Force Development using another identity. Mendoza submitted weekly vouchers using another identity and intentionally falsely answered a question about whether she was working during the specified week. This case was the result of an investigation by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and Department of Labor.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Barbara Brook.
  • Alfonso Serrano, 46, of Logansport, Indiana was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment with 4 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance (more than 500 grams of cocaine).  According to documents filed in this case from March 2012 up to and including November 2013, Serrano conspired with several individuals in distributing cocaine in the Logansport area.  On several occasions Serrano delivered cocaine to an individual he did not know was working for law enforcement.  This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.
  • Demarcus Moran, 24, of South Bend, Indiana was sentenced to 71 months imprisonment with 3 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.  According to documents filed in this case, on December 11, 2013, South Bend Police were conducting surveillance and observed Moran and another individual enter a vehicle. Officers stopped the vehicle and it was determined Moran had active felony warrants through St. Joseph County. As officers approached the passenger’s side of the car, they observed Moran attempting to close the glove box. Inside the glove box, officers located a 9mm firearm. Moran, a convicted felon, was interviewed and admitted to possessing the marijuana that was recovered from his pocket.  This case was the result of an investigation by the South Bend Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.
Updated April 30, 2015