Week in Review—Fort Wayne

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

Pleas:

Arturo DeLuna, 46, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Roger B. Cosbey to the felony offense of conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine. Magistrate Cosbey 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. This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No sentencing date has been set. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller-Lowery.

John Bennett, 35, of Sturgis, Michigan, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Roger B. Cosbey to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and use of communications in conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Magistrate Cosbey 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. No sentencing date has been set. This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller-Lowery.

Nicholas J. Zimmerman, 29, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Roger B. Cosbey to the felony offense of receiving stolen property of the United States. Magistrate Cosbey 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. This investigation was conducted by the United States Marine Corps. Sentencing has been set for December 2, 2013. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Geller.

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:

Kenneth McCreary Jr., 26, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Theresa L. Springmann to two years of probation and $733.06 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of theft or receipt of stolen mail matter. According to documents filed in this case, McCreary stole checks mailed to another individual. The defendant then used numerous checks for unauthorized purchases totaling over $700. This case was the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Investigation Services. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller-Lowery.

Scot Silvers, 47, of Angola, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Theresa L. Springmann to 54 months’ imprisonment, two years of supervised release, and $1,342.16 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offenses of production and trafficking in counterfeit device, fraud with identification documents, and uttering counterfeit obligations. Additionally, the United States was granted forfeiture of the electronic devices he used to commit these crimes. According to documents filed in this case, Silvers used a sophisticated arrangement of color printer and scanner technology in attempts to create counterfeit money. The paper currency was detected by department store employees who applied standard, anti-counterfeit procedures during check out of an accomplice. Silvers was later arrested while in the process of generating such items. This case was the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tina Nommay.