Week in Review—Hammond

HAMMOND, IN—The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following:

Indictments

Mazell Risper, 48, of Gary, Indiana, was charged in an Indictment with being a felon in possession of a firearm. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives HIDTA Task Force. This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

Beaver Bernard Russell, 47, of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was charged in an Indictment with the bank robbery of the Mutual Bank of South Bend Indiana. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

Robert Lockhart, 20, of East Chicago, Indiana, was charged in an Indictment with possession of a firearm by a habitual drug user. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives HIDTA Task Force. This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

Pleas

Dan Adams, 37, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Sentencing has been set for 6/5/12. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation 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 Joshua Kolar.

Guillermo Berrum-Martinez, 36, of Des Plaines, Illinois, pled guilty before Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute heroin. Sentencing has been set for 5/2/12. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Custom Office of Homeland Security Investigations. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.

Hugh L. Payne, 64, of Hammond, Indiana, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of possession of child pornography. Sentencing has been set for 5/15/12. The investigation into Payne’s conduct began in when Hammond Police were dispatched to a home in Hammond, Indiana following a complaint that Payne viewed and possessed material depicting child pornography. Pursuant to a search warrant law enforcement recovered approximately 5 DVDs containing child pornography. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the U.S. Immigration and Custom Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Hammond Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Susan Collins.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The specific sentence in each case to be imposed upon conviction will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Dispositions

William Rostin, 45, of Crown Point, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior Judge James T. Moody to 57 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of bank robbery. In July 2011, Rostin committed three bank robberies before being arrested, and Rostin was also ordered as part of his sentence to pay full restitution in the following amounts to the following banks he robbed: 1) Fifth Third Bank, Hammond, Indiana, in the amount of $1,650; 2) First Financial Bank, Highland, Indiana, in the amount of $3,673; and 3) TCF National Bank, South Holland, Illinois, in the amount of $1,850. At the time Rostin committed the bank robberies, he had recently been released from incarceration after a prior bank robbery conviction. Rostin has been incarcerated since his arrest in July 2011.This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hammond Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.

Martell Bailey, 20, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior Judge James T. Moody to 63 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of making materially false statements in connection with the purchase of a semi-automatic rifle. In March 2010, Bailey unlawfully purchased a semi-automatic rifle for another individual, and less than 2 weeks later participated in an armed robbery with that individual, who used the straw-purchased firearm in the robbery. Bailey has been in custody since his 2010 arrest. This case was the result of an investigation by. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.

Maurice Jordan Price, 22, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 15 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Price was previously convicted of burglary in 2010. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives HIDTA Task Force and the Gary Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.

Kenyatta Hope, 37, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior Judge James T. Moody to 21 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Hope had a previous conviction for aggravated battery, carrying a firearm without a license, and unlawfully carrying and possessing a firearm. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.