South Bend, Indiana - The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in Federal Court:
PLEAS
* Justin Magee, 26, of South Bend, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offenses of attempting to damage a motor vehicle by means of fire and being a felon in possession of a firearm. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Sentencing has been set for 12/15/2014. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.
* Isaiah Mark Samelton, 19, of South Bend, Indiana pled guilty to the felony offense of being a felon in possession of firearm and ammunition. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Sentencing has been set for 12/22/ 2014. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Donald Schmid.
If convicted, 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
* Frederick Dotson 39, of South Bend, Indiana was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment with 2 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to documents filed in this case, Dotson sold cocaine out of his residence in St. Joseph County and possessed a Hi Point.40 cal. handgun to protect his drug business. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.
* Jose Mario Sanchez, 40, of Goshen, Indiana was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment with 2 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of conspiring to distribute cocaine. According to documents filed in this case, from September 2013 up to and including October 2013, Sanchez was involved with several individuals, in distributing cocaine in the Northern District of Indiana. On several occasions Sanchez and others delivered cocaine to an individual Sanchez was unaware was working for law enforcement. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.
* Jose Guadalupe Leal, 39, of Elkhart, Indiana was sentenced to 97 months imprisonment with 3 years supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offenses of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to documents filed in this case, on August 28th, 2013, Leal lived in Elkhart, Indiana and had in his possession about an ounce of cocaine he intended to sell. While executing a search warrant on Leal’s residence, law enforcement officers located the narcotics, drug dealing paraphernalia and a loaded semi-automatic pistol hidden in Leal’s bedroom. This case was the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William Grimmer.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
