Week in Review—Hammond

HAMMOND, IN—The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in federal court:

Pleas:

• Blake Titus, 23, of West Lafayette, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of distribution of child pornography. Sentencing has been set for January 8, 2013. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Highland Police Department, the Kokomo City Police Department, the Brownsburg Police Department, and the Indiana State Police. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.
• Richard L. Hawkins, 28, of Lafayette, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Hawkins has a prior felony conviction for escape. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Lafayette Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.
• Stanley Collins, 53, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Collins has a prior felony conviction for criminal recklessness. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the East Chicago Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.
• Robert Thompson, Jr., 24, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Thompson has a prior felony conviction for dealing in cocaine and possession of a controlled substance. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Gary Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.
• Herbert Harrison, 28, of Markham, Illinois, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Harrison has a prior felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Sentencing has been set for December 7, 2012. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

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:

• Nick Santana, 30, of Chicago Heights, Illinois, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to two years of probation after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute hydrocodone/Vicodin pills. According to the Plea Agreement filed in this case, Santana acknowledged that he accepted delivery of several bottles of Vicodin at his home from an employee at a doctor’s office in Indiana. He knew that the bottles of Vicodin were being delivered to the doctor’s office in Indiana and then driven to his house. He would sell the drugs and with that money would later pay for the drugs. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Indiana Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diane Berkowitz.
• Maurice Morgan, 35, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to 6 months’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release, to include six months of home detention, after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Lake Station Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.
• Steven Lewis, 51, of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge James Moody to 120 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of child pornography. According to the sentencing memorandum filed by the government in this case, Lewis came to that attention of law enforcement when the Hammond Police Department received a complaint regarding a possible production of child pornography case. Upon investigation, it was determined that Lewis had provided alcohol to minors and then attempted to take sexually explicit pictures of a 16-year-old female and two 17-year-old females who were invited guests of the home he shared with his parents. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including ICE-Department of Homeland Security, and the Hammond Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.