Week In Review – South Bend

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

PLEAS before Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein:

Timothy Heckaman, 52, of Bremen, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of theft of government property . 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 Department of Labor.Sentencing has been set for 7/22/2014.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Barbara Brook.

Frederick Dotson, 40, of Mishawaka, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime . 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 Drug Enforcement Agency.Sentencing has been set for 7/17/2014.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Shaffer.

Leroy Clark, 22, of South Bend, 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 7/24/2014.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jesse 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.

DISPOSITION before Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein:

Ronald Simmons, 44, of Goshen, Indiana was sentenced to 1 year probation and ordered to pay a fine of $1000 after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor offense of taking, killing, or possessing migratory birds.According to documents filed in this case, in March 2012, Simmons illegally killed and took migratory birds native to the United States or its territories and protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, specifically great horned owls and red tailed hawks.This case was the result of an investigation by the Department of Fish and Wildlife Services.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.