Week in Review—Hammond

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

Pleas:

• Maria Guadalupe Sustaita, 50, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to the felony offense of aggravated identity theft and obstruction of correspondence. Sentencing has been set for November 7, 2012. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Houston.
• Serina Arambula, 23, of Chicago, Illinois, pled guilty before Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of withholding information regarding the events of the murder of Edward Delattore. Sentencing has been set for November 14, 2012. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Nozick and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Joseph Cooley.
• Deandre Williams, 18, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offense of the armed robbery of Harrison Gas and Convenience store in Gary, Indiana. Sentencing has been set for November 29, 2012. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the East Chicago Police Department, the Gary Police Department, the Hammond Police Department, and the Merrillville Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.
• Lance Payton, 34, of East Chicago, 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 November 28, 2012. 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 Dean Lanter.
• Bianca Fernandez, 23, of Chicago, Illinois, a defendant in the case U.S. v Vargas et al., pled guilty before Judge Rudy Lozano to the felony offense of conspiracy to murder in aid of racketeering activity. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the 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. This case is being 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.

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:

• Wayne Wigglesworth, 71, of Valparaiso, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior Judge James Moody to 120 months’ imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of coercion and enticement of a minor. According to the complaint filed in this case, the investigation began in August 2009 when Wigglesworth was pulled over by law enforcement after making a turn without signaling properly. During the course of the field interview, officers asked the driver, Wigglesworth, the name of his passenger and why the passenger, a minor, was in his vehicle. Wigglesworth could not answer the question. The officers asked the minor the drivers name and he said he did not know. The minor boy told the officers that he met Wigglesworth in an Internet chat room and had been in contact with him for two or three weeks. Wigglesworth arranged to meet the boy at a specific location. Upon arriving, the boy entered Wigglesworth’s car. They were stopped about three blocks away for the traffic violation. This case was the result of an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including ICE-Department of Homeland Security and the Chicago Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.
• William Dutro, 34, of Lake Station, Indiana, was sentenced by Judge Rudy Lozano to 121 months’ imprisonment and 15 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of receipt of child pornography. According to the complaint filed by the government in this case, an officer with the Richmond (Indiana) Police Department, Cyber Crime Unit, used a P2P software program to locate computers sharing known child pornography images and videos within the state of Indiana and the Northern District of Indiana. The officer located files using terms synonymous with child pornography located at an IP address that was assigned to Dutro. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on Dutro’s residence locating numerous child pornography related file titles. Dutro admitted in his plea agreement that he possessed material which involved a prepubescent minor, material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or violence, and that he possessed an excess of 600 images. This case was the result of an investigation by the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the ICE-Department of Homeland Security and the Indiana State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.