Week in Review—South Bend

SOUTH BEND, IN—The United States Attorney’s Office announced that:

Pleas:

• Jeffrey Farmer, 41, of Knox, Indiana, pled guilty before District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to the felony offense of accessing with the intent to view child pornography. Sentencing has been set for February 4, 2013. 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 Starke County Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.
• Timothy Lewis, 41, of South Bend, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offenses of distribution of heroin and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Magistrate Nuechterlein 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 February 4, 2013. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the South Bend Police Department MSOS. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William Grimmer.

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:

• Juan Orduno, 26, of Warsaw, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 12 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to failure to appear and 39 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to possession of ammunition by a convicted felon for a total of 51 months’ imprisonment. Orduno will then serve three years of supervised release. According to the sentencing memorandum filed by the court, Orduno was after throwing bullets into an alley from a moving car in August 2007, when he already had a felony conviction. Two weeks before trial on that charge, he cut off his home detention monitoring ankle bracelet and fled. He turned himself in four years later. Orduno has a prior felony conviction for operating while intoxicated in 2006. This case was the result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.
• Mario Carrillo, 69, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 24 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of distribution of cocaine. According to the plea agreement filed in this case, Carrillo admitted that he distributed about three ounces of powder cocaine to an individual he later learned was working for the police. He received approximately $2,550 in cash for the transaction. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the South Bend Police Department MSOS, and the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office Interdiction and Covert Enforcement Unit. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William Grimmer.
• Nolberto Robledo, 35, of San Jose, California, a defendant in the case U.S. v Beltran et al., was sentenced by District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 70 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute and distribute cocaine. According to the plea agreement in this case, Robledo admitted that he was hired by a person in California to transport a vehicle and some illegal drugs to Elkhart, Indiana. He drove the vehicle to Indiana and met with a person who followed him to a location where he drove the vehicle inside a garage. Once inside, the drugs were removed and cash put into the car to go back to California. He was stopped by the police who took the car and found the cash. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Elkhart ICE Unit, and the MSOS. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William Grimmer.
• Ryan Webb, 32, and Johnny Stine, 40, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, were each sentenced by District Judge Jon DeGuilio to 21 months’ imprisonment, two years of supervised release, and restitution of $585,000 after pleading guilty to the felony offense of making false statement in connection with a mortgage loan and mortgage insurance. According to the sentencing memorandum filed by the government in this case, Webb and Stine engaged in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme by purchasing inexpensive homes and, through the use of advertising, selling these homes for two and three times their original purchase price to buyers who could not on their own qualify for the needed mortgage loan. They provided money to the home buyers/borrowers to cover loan closing costs and other expenses. To hide the fact that all of the money for closing (that were supposed to come from the buyers/borrowers but, in fact, came from the seller), Webb and Stine prepared phony “gift letters” documenting falsely that the monies they provided had come from family or friends of the buyers/borrowers. They prepared and submitted mortgage loan applications containing false statements regarding the available assets of the home buyer/mortgage loan applicant, including the use of phony/fraudulent asset documentation that falsely stated buyer-borrower assets in bank accounts. This case was the result of an investigation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Indiana State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.