Week in Review—Hammond

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

Pleas:

• Azzam Al-Hindi, 56, of Whiting, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of mail fraud. Sentencing has been set for April 25, 2014. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randall Stewart.
• Valon Tyson, 37, of Hammond, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Andrew Rodovich to the felony offense of making false statements to a United States Postal Inspector. Magistrate Rodovich 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. Sentencing has been set for March 7, 2014. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Education-Office of the Inspector General. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Houston.
• Christopher Bour, 40, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offenses of purchase of a child for production of child pornography, production of child pornography and possession of child pornography featuring a child under the age of 12. Sentencing has been set for May 15, 2014. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Indiana State Police, the Gary Police Department, and the Michigan City Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.
• John Michael Johnson, 44, of Michigan City, 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 David Nozick.

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:

• Jose de Jesus Mariscal-Rivas, 42, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 42 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.
• Heriberto Hernandez-Fraye, 35, of East Chicago, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 46 months’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to illegal reentry after having been convicted of an aggravated felony. This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Philip Benson.
• Kevin Brewster, 41, of Portage, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 35 years of imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offenses of production of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. According to documents filed in this case, Brewster admitted that on four separate occasions, he caused a 6-to-9-year-old child to engage in sexual acts which he recorded on videotape. He also admitted to downloading child pornography from the Internet and possessing that material for his own use. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Portage Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.