Week In Review – South Bend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Mary Hatton

www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ CELL: (219) 314-9993

mary.hatton@usdoj.gov

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

PLEAS:

Andres Garcia, 56, of Hoopeston, Illinois, a defendant in the case US v Patlan et al., pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.Magistrate Nuechterlein is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea.Parties have 10 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. Sentencing has been set for 6/20/13.These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.

Harry Kiste, 55, of Elkhart, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offense of failure to register as a sex offender.Magistrate Nuechterlein is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea.Parties have 10 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. Sentencing has been set for 6/27/13.These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the United States Marshal’s Service.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.

Demerius Shaw, 20, of South Bend, Indiana, pled guilty before District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to the felony offense of racketeering and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.Sentencing has been set for 7/17/13.These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the South Bend Police Department.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.

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:

Jesus DeLeon, Sr., 50, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 4 months imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release, including 6 months of home detention, after pleading guilty to the felony offense of furnishing false written statements in the acquisition of a firearm.According to documents filed by the government in this case, Deleon Sr. straw purchased an IAC Regent .45 caliber pistol for Oscar Ruelas. In particular, Deleon Sr. bought this firearm from Midwest Gun Exchange in Mishawaka, Indiana while falsely stating on the “Firearms Transaction Record” for over-the counter-firearms transactions (ATF Form 4473) that the firearm was for Deleon Sr. when in fact the firearm was really being purchased for and at the behest of Oscar Ruelas, a trafficker in controlled substances.Police recovered the firearm at the home of Ruelas in July 2012 when a search warrant was executed there. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the South Bend Police Department and the MSOS.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.