Week in Review—South Bend

SOUTH BEND, IN—The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in federal court:

Complaint:

Nathan Demar Huey-Dingle, 31, of South Bend, Indiana, was charged by complaint with sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion and transporting across state lines for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case has been assigned to and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.

The United States Attorney’s Office emphasized that a complaint is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Dispositions:

• Raymond Alger, 49, of Granger, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 27 months’ imprisonment, a $5000 fine, and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of child pornography. This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.
• Jeremy Dyer, 32, of Iroquois, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 48 months’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of use of a phone in the distribution of marijuana. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.
• Karla Ruelas, 23, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 15 months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offenses of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and mail fraud. According to documents filed by the government in this case, Ruelas admitted that she worked for Servicios Mi Tierra (SMT) in South Bend, Indiana. She was hired by Paulino Ascencion-Apolino to perform assorted services for members of the Hispanic community in the South Bend area, in part because she could speak Spanish as well as English. Among other things, she helped aliens of Hispanic descent who were in the United States in violation of immigration laws. Illegal aliens cannot register their motor vehicles with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) because they cannot obtain a Social Security number (SSN). Ruelas would generate an employer identification number (EIN) as a substitute for an SSN and then use that EIN in the BMV registration process. As part of her duties at SMT, she would sign other peoples’ names, both buyers and sellers, to vehicle titles and other paperwork without their permission. She would also change the vehicles’ purchase price in order to reduce the amount of tax that SMT’s customers would have to pay to the State of lndiana. This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and United States Postal Service-Office of the Inspector General. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth Hays.
• Richard Hodges, 69, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Jon DeGuilio to two years of supervised release and $31,302.00 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of theft of Social Security Retirement Income Benefits. Hodges continued to collect his father’s monthly benefit payments after his father had passed away. This case was the result of an investigation by the Social Security Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Barbara Brook.
• Jeffrey Cripe, 38, of Elkhart, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Jon DeGuilio to 20 years’ imprisonment and 25 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of distribution of child pornography. According to documents filed by the government in this case, Cripe made child pornography available to be downloaded between January 2012 and July 2012. The material he made available included sadistic images of minors being sexually abused. Messages recovered from Cripe’s computer also indicated that he had approached numerous female minors between the ages of 12 and 16 years old online for a period over a year-and-a-half and enticed them into performing sexual acts and creating pornographic images of themselves for him. 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 Indiana State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.
• Eric Arnold, 40, of Macy, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Robert Miller, Jr. to 27 months’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of use of a communication facility to distribute marijuana. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.