Week in Review—Hammond

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

Pleas:

Dedrick Bufkin, 20, of Merrillville, Indiana, a defendant in the case U.S. v Toney et al., pled guilty before District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to the felony offense of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Sentencing has been set for October 16, 2013. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force and the Merrillville Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

Scott Filbey, 47, of Walton, Kentucky, pled guilty before District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to the felony offense of production of child pornography. Sentencing has been set for October 8, 2013. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Indiana State Police, the Franklin County Ohio Sheriff’s Office ICAC Task Force, and the Cincinnati Police/Hamilton County Sheriff Electronics Computer Investigation Section. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.

Raynell Vaxter, 52, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Sentencing has been set for October 23, 2013. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Joshua Kolar.

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:

Javorious Raggs, 22, of Hammond, Indiana, a defendant in the case U.S. v Puntillo-Raggs et al., was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to two years of probation, to include 12 months on home detention and $13,910 in restitution, after pleading guilty to the felony offense of passing counterfeit obligations. According to documents filed by the government in this case, Raggs passed the counterfeit currency in payment for “purchased” items from the victim store. He later returned many of the items “purchased” with the counterfeit currency in exchange for genuine cash or other things of value. This case was the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randall Stewart.