Week in Review—South Bend

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

Pleas:

• Jason Rife, 35, of Michigan City, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute heroin. 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 11/26/12. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.
• Bart Star Bush, 32, of South Bend, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offense possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 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. Star has prior convictions for burglary, possession of marijuana, and breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny and theft. Sentencing has been set for 11/26/12. 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 Donald Schmid.
• Angel Delgado-Ventura, a citizen of Mexico, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offense of illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. 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. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by ICE-Department of Homeland Security. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.
• Willie Caldwell, of South Bend, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offenses of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 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. 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. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.

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:

• Darlene Jacquez, 31, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Jon DeGuilio to three years of supervised release and $14,154.00 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of concealment of information with the intent to fraudulently secure payment from the Social Security Administration. According to a Sentencing Memorandum filed in this case, Jacquez applied for SSI benefits for her daughter through the Social Security Administration and named herself as representative payee. The daughter was removed from her mother’s care and custody in August 2009. Jacquez never notified the Social Security Administration of her daughter’s removal and continued to receive SSI benefits. From that time forward until January, 2011, Jacquez continued to receive SSI benefits even though her daughter was not living in her home, and in fact, was in foster care part of the time and with a relative. Jacquez used the money to pay her own bills and expenses. This case was the result of an investigation by the Social Security Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.
• Bryan Knight, 43, of Osceola, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Jon DeGuilio to 37 months’ imprisonment, two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $514,198.00 after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud. According to the sentencing memorandum filed by the government in this case, Knight participated in a mortgage fraud scheme and conspiracy. During this time period, Knight was a loan broker employed at 1st Midwest Mortgage. In 2004 through 2007, Robert Culp purchased a large number of properties in the South Bend, Indiana area. Culp then flipped a large percentage of these properties to other persons. Knight worked with Robert Culp in 2005 through 2007 to prepare loan applications and related documentation for a series of mortgage loans for persons who bought properties from Robert Culp in the South Bend, Indiana area. It was Knight’s routine practice to inflate figures on the loan applications in order to get them through the underwriting departments of the mortgage lenders. Knight prepared and then signed the mortgage loan applications that contained false statements and representations regarding the amount of assets and income that the borrowers had in order to show the lenders that the buyers/borrowers had sufficient funds to pay closings and make mortgage payment when in fact they did not. Knight would receive “kickback” payments from co-conspirators for his help in executing the mortgage fraud scheme. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.