Week in Review—Fort Wayne

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

Pleas:

• Shawn Hagler, 35, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, pled guilty before District Judge Roger B. Cosbey to the felony offense of armed bank robbery. This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sentencing has not been set. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller-Lowery.
• Trey Jackson, 35, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, pled guilty before District Judge Roger B. Cosbey to the felony offenses of armed bank robbery and with brandishing and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Sentencing has not been set. This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Geller.

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:

• Nicole Sprankles, 40, of Bluffton, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Theresa L. Springmann to serve five months’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm. According to documents filed in this case, Sprankles purchased a .40 caliber Glock pistol, model 22 from Parlor City Pawn in Bluffton and lied regarding the true identity of a firearm purchaser. This case was the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller-Lowery.
• Harry Esterline, 75, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Theresa L. Springmann to serve two days' imprisonment (with credit for time served) and five years’ supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of materials depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. According to documents filed in this case, Esterline utilized the file sharing software “Limewire” to download video files from the Internet. The files depicted scenes of prepubescent females engaged in sexual activity with adult males. Esterline’s computer was seized and child pornography video files were found on the hard drive. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Miller-Lowery.
• Alex White, 48, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Theresa L. Springmann to serve 188 months’ imprisonment, three years' of supervised release, and $877 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of robbery with a dangerous weapon. According to documents filed in this case, in October 2012, White entered a Wells Fargo bank, threatened a bank teller, and demanded money. White fled the scene with the stolen money. He was arrested several days later due to video footage from the robbery. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lovita Morris-King.