Week in Review—South Bend

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

Plea:

Kevin Howell, 46, of Michigan City, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine. 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 July 17, 2013. These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.

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.

Disposition:

Brian Newman, 46, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Jon DeGuilio to 360 months’ imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of enticement of a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct. According to documents filed by the government in this case, Newman admitted that in April 2012, he contacted a 16-year-old female on Facebook who resided in New York. He told her in a Facebook chat that a male she knew as Mark had hacked into her iPad and had video of her dressing in her room. He told her she could get the videos back if she would Skype with him. He asked her to engage in sexually explicit conduct and then e-mail the photos to him. Pursuant to a federal search warrant, law enforcement discovered numerous photos that the girl had sent to Newman’s e-mail account. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Michigan City Police Department, the Mound, Minnesota Police Department, the Cary, North Carolina Police Department, and the New York State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.