Week in Review—Hammond

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

Pleas:

• Danial Arnett, 34, of Lake Village, Indiana, and Tommy Rossiter, 51, of Demotte, Indiana, defendants in the case U.S. v Humphrey et al, pled guilty before Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin. Sentencing has been set for 12/12/12. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jacqueline Jacobs and Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
• Taneshia Douglas, 39, of University Park, Illinois, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute heroin. Magistrate Cherry 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 12/7/12. 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 Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
• Dante Vasquez, 43, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to the felony offense of production of child pornography. Sentencing has been set for 11/19/12. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the ICE-Department of Homeland Security. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster. 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:

• Shinita Mosley, 33, of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 30 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offenses of attempt and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, insurance fraud utilizing the mail, financial aid fraud, and false statements. Mosley admitted in her plea agreement that she committed all of the acts charged in the Information filed by the government. She admitted she was in the business of finding individuals and staging automobile accidents in order to collect funds and money by submitting fraudulent insurance claims. Mosley also admitted that she obtained funds by falsely stating, when requesting funds from federal student financial assistance programs, that she had identified all money and benefits which she received when in fact she had not reported additional funds received from Action for Children, a non-profit organization, which provides financial assistance for child care to qualified families. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Service-Office of the Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Houston.
• Earl Russell Idle, 64, of Lafayette, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 210 months’ imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of distribution of child pornography. According to the sentencing memorandum filed by the government in this case, Idle had already been caught and admitted to possessing child pornography in violation of state law in Tippecanoe County at the time of this offense. Idle then purchased a new computer, obtained new images featuring minor children being exploited and abused, and began communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a 14-year-old girl. During the course of their Internet chats, Idle distributed child pornography to the girl in an effort to get her to engage in sexually explicit conduct so he could view that conduct via webcam. Because the girl did not have a webcam, Idle purchased and shipped to her two different webcams, making clear she was to use them to capture herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including ICE-Department of Homeland Security Investigations. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.
• Carlos Martinez, 28, of Hollywood, Florida, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 78 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute heroin. According to the sentencing memorandum filed in this case, Martinez was responsible for organizing the transportation of the narcotics and was arrested after transferring over 20 kilograms of heroin and over $350,000 to a prearranged site in Gary, Indiana. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Chicago Police Department and the Indiana State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.