Week in Review—Hammond

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

Pleas

• Mark Ciesiolka, 39, of Columbus, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of transfer of obscene materials to minors. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the United States Secret Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Philip Benson.
• Manolo Lopez-Ramirez, 26, of Valparaiso, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives HIDTA Task Force. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick.
• Gregorio Valencia, 29, of Griffith, Indiana, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Sentencing has been set for March 7, 2013. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration HIDTA Task Force. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
• David R. Beach, 25, of West Lafayette, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession of child pornography. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.
• Adam W. Buckler, 28, of Hammond, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of distribution of child pornography. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.
• Jamol Hardin, 39, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the East Chicago Police Department. 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

• Taneshia Douglas, 39, of University Park, Illinois, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to five months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release to include five months of home detention after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin. According to a sentencing memorandum filed in this case, Douglas delivered heroin to individuals who appeared at the home she shared with Cortez Humphrey and were seeking to purchase heroin from Cortez Humphrey when Cortez was not at home. Douglas also traveled with Humphrey when he delivered heroin on at least two occasions. Humphrey had Douglas hold the drugs on her person until he, Humphrey, delivered the same. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
• Manuel Gonzalez, 55, a defendant in the case U.S. v Marquez et al., was sentenced by Senior District Judge James Moody to 60 months’ imprisonment and four years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to possess with the intent to marijuana. According to a sentencing memorandum filed in this case, the conspiracy involved a semi-trailer transporting well over 100 kilograms of marijuana from Texas. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.
• Rafael Magana, 44, a citizen of Mexico and a defendant in the case U.S. v Gonzalez et al., was sentenced by Senior District Judge James Moody to 41 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.
• David Lira, 39, of Lansing, Illinois, a defendant in the case U.S. v Vargas et al., was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to 180 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity. According to the sentencing memorandum in this case, Lira, a long-standing member in the Latin Kings, was a participant in the murder of Latin Dragons leaders James Walsh and Gonzalo Diaz outside of the Soprano’s Bar in Griffith, Indiana. This case was the result of an investigation by the by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Immigration and Custom Office of Homeland Security Investigations; the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement, and Coordination Center; the National Gang Intelligence Center; the Chicago Police Department; the East Chicago Police Department; the Griffith Police Department; the Hammond Police Department; the Highland Police Department; and the Houston Police Department. The investigation of the Chicago Police Department officers was conducted by Chicago City Public Corruption Task Force, a Chicago Police Department-Internal Affairs and FBI-Chicago law enforcement initiative. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Nozick and Joseph A. Cooley, Trial Attorney, United States Department of Justice-Organized Crime and Gang Section.