Week in Review—Hammond

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

Pleas:

• Virlissa Crenshaw, 42, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offenses of theft from a local government entity receiving federal funds and making false statements under oath on a tax return. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Philip Benson.
• Tyler Wayne McCoy, 22, of Lafayette, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession of stolen firearms. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.
• Daniel Rivas, 33, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before Senior District Judge James Moody to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute marijuana. 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 Nicholas Padilla.
• Joseph Torres, 20, of East Chicago, Indiana, a defendant in the case U.S. v Briseno et al., pled guilty before Chief Judge Philip Simon to the felony offenses of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity, murder in aid of a racketeering activity, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Sentencing has been set for February 7, 2013. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dean Lanter and 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:

• Leonard Hernandez-Torres, 36, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 36 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to distribute heroin. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.
• Terry Lee Thomas, 49, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen 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 distribute marijuana. According to the sentencing memorandum filed in this case, Thomas admitted to knowing about and participating in the delivery of approximately 500 pounds of marijuana that was part of a larger delivery heading from Texas to Lafayette, Indiana. He admitted to law enforcement that he played the role of facilitator in that he put accomplices in contact with each other, recruited accomplices, hosted meetings at his residence to discuss the conspiracy, and made phone calls to ensure the success of the marijuana delivery. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.
• Jimmie Caldwell, 36, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to two years of probation pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute marijuana. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.
• Alan Zimmerman, 44, of Chesterton, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge James Moody to 57 months’ imprisonment and four years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with the intent to manufacture and distribute marijuana. According to the sentencing memorandum filed by the government in this case, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Zimmerman’s residence and discovered a marijuana grow operation and seized 852 marijuana plants, 435 of which had root systems; 22.55 kilograms of marijuana; and eight firearms. Zimmerman is a convicted felon who was not allowed to possess any firearms. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Chang-Adiga and Joshua Kolar.
• Juan Del Campo, 45, of East Chicago, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to 15 months’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. This case was the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.
• Murphy Lee Dinkins, Jr., 32, of East Chicago, Indiana, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano to 46 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Dinkins has prior convictions for residential entry and neglect of a dependent. This case was the result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives HIDTA Task Force. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Padilla.
• Robert Rivers, 44, of Flora, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 51 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Rivers has 10 prior felony convictions and 15 prior misdemeanor convictions. This case was the result of an investigation by the by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Flora Police Department; the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department; the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department; and the Lafayette Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.
• Mark Weinberger, 49, of Merrillville, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 84 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to all counts of a 22 count indictment charging him with defrauding health care benefit programs. Weinberger was also ordered to pay approximately $108,000 in restitution. The indictment was based on Weinberger’s role in defrauding health insurance companies and a labor union health and welfare fund by billing insurance companies for procedures that he did not actually perform for each of the 22 patients referenced in the indictment. These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Labor OIG-Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diane Berkowitz.