Northern District of Indiana Announces Major Progress in Fight Against Crime

FORT WAYNE, SOUTH BEND, AND HAMMOND - On May 5, 2026, the Honorable Adam L. Mildred completed his fourth month as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana. To mark the date, U.S. Attorney Mildred shared statistics demonstrating the year-on-year increase in federal criminal law enforcement efforts.

"We are proud to announce a great period of progress and renewed momentum for the Office, reflecting the hard work of the attorneys, litigation support team and our critical local, state, and federal law enforcement partners with whom we share this fight," U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred said.

"During the first four months of 2026, this Office brought 80% more indictments and charged twice as many defendants as it did during the same period of 2025. Both our narcotics and violent-crimes indictments increased by over 60%, our child-exploitation charges doubled, and our white-collar/fraud charges quadrupled. Meanwhile, we have aggressively pursued long prison sentences for those ultimately convicted of federal crimes," said U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred.

"Since being appointed, my focus has been on the core mission of protecting the citizens of the Northern District of Indiana and vigorously enforcing the law. Our office focuses on prosecuting violent offenders and gangs, child predators and those that peddle poison in our communities. We seek to fight terrorists and enemies of our nation, both foreign and domestic. We address critical illegal immigration issues and are committed to the total elimination of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations. We also represent the civil interests of the United States and defend the foundational rights of all Americans, particularly the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred said.

"These sorts of increases put criminals on notice-if you choose to commit federal crimes in the Northern District of Indiana, you will be hunted down and held accountable by the exceptional law enforcement professionals who have dedicated their lives to keeping Indiana safe," said U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred.

The following notations of recent sentences illustrate the types of cases captured by those statistics:

United States v. Miguel Angel Vera-Rosales: Mexican national with a previous felony conviction sentenced to 20 months for illegal reentry into the United States.

United States v. Annamarie Fleischman: Roanoke woman sentenced to 600 months in prison following her conviction for sexually exploiting children and distributing child pornography.

United States v. Keith Hall: Kokomo man sentenced to 188 months in prison for possessing child pornography.

United States v. Michael Deckinga: Dyer man sentenced to 180 months in prison for distributing child pornography.

United States v. Lucas Kern: Huntington man sentenced to 168 months in prison for possessing child pornography.

United States v. Devin Melvin: Michigan man sentenced to 270 months in prison for organizing and leading a fentanyl trafficking group.

United States v. Robert Crayton: Illinois man sentenced to 216 months in prison for conspiring to distribute and possessing with the intent to distribute cocaine.

United States v. Michael O. Beers: Fort Wayne man sentenced to 190 months in prison for possessing with the intent to distribute fentanyl and various firearms offenses.

United States v. Aguila Binion: South Bend man sentenced to 144 months in prison for possessing a firearm as a felon and for possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute.

United States v. Mark A. Lyons: Gary man sentenced to 158 months in prison for possessing over 25 pounds of methamphetamine and a firearm.

United States v. Jahmal Sanders: Hammond man sentenced to 192 months in prison for possessing a stolen firearm as a felon.

United States v. Gary Schmucker: Warsaw man sentenced to 46 months in prison for possessing a firearm while an unlawful drug user following a standoff with police.

United States v. Jerry Boomershine: Elkhart man sentenced to 51 months in prison for bank robbery.

United States v. Bethany A. Cataldi: Chesterton woman sentenced to 97 months in prison and ordered to pay over $19 million in restitution for committing health care fraud.

United States v. Christine Reese: Crown Point woman sentenced to 84 months in prison for committing health care fraud and aggravated identity theft by fraudulently posing as a psychologist.

United States v. Janis A. Sexton: Ossian woman sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered to pay over $1.6 million in restitution for conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering against multiple defendants.

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