Week in Review—Hammond

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

Pleas:

Eugene Wilson, Sr., 57, of Merrillville, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of wire fraud. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gary Bell.

Simmuel Mobley, 46, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 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 Attorney Thomas McGrath.

Jose Montoya, 40, of Summit, Illinois, a defendant in the case U.S. v Ramirez et al., pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of kidnapping. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney 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:

Wesley King, 42, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 70 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. King has a prior felony conviction for murder, narcotics offenses, and reckless driving. According to documents filed in this case, King fired a weapon at an individual who was attempting to burglarize his home. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Gary Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.

Nalon Edmonds, 22, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 18 months’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm while being an unlawful user of marijuana. According to documents filed in this case, Edmonds approached individuals as they came to a gas station and attempted to sell marijuana to them. Edmonds, while attempting to sell the marijuana, was in possession of a Taurus .45 caliber firearm. The firearm was fully loaded, with one round of ammunition in the chamber. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Indiana University Northwest Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.

Jesus Vasquez was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 21 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of distribution of cocaine. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.

Monta Oliver, 36, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 27 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of distribution of crack cocaine. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Armando Salinas.

Jon Erik Lilly, 28, of Cedar Lake, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to 144 months’ imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of receipt of child pornography. According to a complaint filed in this case, a Hammond Police Department officer, while working off duty at Morton High School, was made aware of a situation involving a male teacher, later identified as Lilly, having a sexual relationship with a female student. During a subsequent investigation, law enforcement conducted a search of Lilly’s residence and found multiple hundreds of sexually explicit images of at least 10 different females, five or more of who were identified as former students. 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 and the Hammond Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.

Diontria Frazier, 23, of Indianapolis, Indiana, a defendant in the case U.S. v Harris et al., was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 1 day credit for time served, three years’ supervised release and restitution jointly and severally with all defendants after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to commit fraud with identification documents. According to documents filed in this case, the defendants obtained the account and personal information of individuals in over 21 states and fraudulently added their names to the victims’ accounts in an account takeover scheme. The defendants either utilized their own names or utilized aliases with the accounts which had been taken over. They purchased gift cards, postal money orders, and made numerous retail purchases with the fraudulently obtained credit cards throughout Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Georgia. They also made cash withdrawals on the accounts and utilized the convenience checks associated with the accounts at various financial institutions located in Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Georgia. Throughout the criminal conduct, the defendants would also mail gift cards, postal money orders, and U.S. currency from Indiana and Wisconsin to Georgia. This case was the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Service-Office of the Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Houston.