Week In Review – Hammond

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Mary Hatton

www.usdoj.gov/usao/inn/ FAX (219) 852-2770

Hammond, Indiana - The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in Federal Court:

PLEAS:

Wesley King, 42, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty before District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to the felony offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.Sentencing has been set for 5/22/13.These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Kolar.

Maria Guadalupe Sustaita, 50, of East Chicago, Indiana, pled guilty before District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to the felony offense of aggravated identity theft and obstruction of correspondence.Sentencing has been set for 4/16/13.These charges were filed as a result of an investigation by the United States Postal Service-Office of the Inspector General.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Houston.

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:

Richard Jenkins, 39, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 33 months imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine.According to documents filed by the government in this case, law enforcement conducted multiple trash pulls at Jenkins’ residence after receiving a tip regarding drug dealing occurring at the residence. The pulls uncovered evidence indicative of drug packaging material, drug trafficking activity and drug sales taking place.A search warrant was executed on the residence where law enforcement recovered a knotted plastic bag containing 20 clear plastic bags, each containing crack cocaine, digital scales, a compact disc case containing two razor blades and a scale with white powder residue confirmed to be cocaine and marijuana.Jenkins admitted that he had been selling crack cocaine for months. 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 Dean Lanter.

Gregorio Valencia, 29, of Griffith, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 121 months imprisonment and 2 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute five hundred grams of more of methamphetamine.According to documents filed by the government in this case, a confidential source made arrangement to meet with Valencia to receive a free sample of methamphetamine and to negotiate a future purchase of 5 kilograms of methamphetamine.After the agreement was made, Valencia met with the source to deliver the drugs.Agents moved in and arrested Valencia.The Agents recovered a black duffel bag from Valencia’s vehicle containing 5 kilograms of methamphetamine and another 1 kilogram from his residence during a subsequent search.This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration HIDTA Task Force.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chang-Adiga.

Dante Christopher Vasquez, 44, of East Chicago, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen to 210 months imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of production of child pornography.According to documents filed by the government in this case, the Hammond Police started an investigation after receiving a complaint of an adult family member taking nude pictures of a juvenile.The responding officer interviewed the mother and her child about the complaint and learned that Vasquez was related to her and had frequently cared for her children and had used the mother’s camera to take nude pictures of the child.Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the Vasquez residence, locating multiple computers revealing images indicative of child pornography that included the child involved in the initial complaint.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 Hammond Police Department.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.