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

PLEA:

Ola Mohammad, 33, of Chicago, Illinois pled guilty to the felony offense of knowingly and willfully conspiring to defraud the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefit program and defrauding the USDA SNAP benefit program through wire fraud. The magistrate judge is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea. Parties have 14 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sentencing has been set for August 25, 2014. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diane Berkowitz.

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.