Week In Review –south Bend

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

PLEAS

• Jason C. Roames, 35, of Michigan City, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of  possession of child pornography. 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 FBI.  Sentencing has been set for June 28, 2015.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.

• Ewing Teal, 26, of South Bend, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (crack). 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 DEA.  Sentencing has been set for June 24, 2015.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.

• Jordan Gutkowski, 28, of Michigan City, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute heroin. 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 DEA.  Sentencing has been set for June 25, 2015.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.

• Miguel Gregory Vera, 23, of South Bend, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offenses of false statements on acquisition of a firearm and drug user in possession of firearms. 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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Sentencing has been set for June 17, 2015.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.

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

• Justin Bowles, 25, of South Bend, Indiana was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment with 4 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base over 28 grams.  According to documents filed in this case, on April 10, 2014, in a residence located in South Bend, Bowles possessed a package containing a white rocklike substance that was cocaine base (crack).   It was Bowles intent to sell this substance.  This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.