Week in Review—Hammond

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

Dispositions:

Francisco Ramirez, 50, of East Chicago, Indiana, a defendant in the case U.S. v Lozano et al., was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to five months’ imprisonment, $4,108.50 in restitution, and one year of supervised release, to include five months of home detention, after pleading guilty to the felony offense of receipt of a bribe by an agent of a local government receiving federal funds. Ramirez was the treasurer of the School City of East Chicago. According to documents filed in this case, the scheme provided that Gerardo Lozano, who operated Greentree Builders, perform free home improvement work at Ramirez’s residence in return for contracts and payments from the School City to Greentree Builders. Ramirez created the work and made sure that the School City could pay for it. In the end, it cost the School City more than $173,000. Ramirez handled almost all he paperwork, including signing the payment claim forms. The agreement also called for Lozano to overbill the School City. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gary Bell.

Steven Moten, 53, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 60 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of distribution of crack cocaine. According to documents filed in this case, Moten has previous convictions for murder in 1977 and dealing cocaine in 2002. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.