Latest news with #LakeSuperiorCourt
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Yahoo
Court briefs: Fatal drug robbery sentencing, sex crimes involving minors, shooting charges dropped
A Gary man faces up to 20 years after admitting he set up the robbery that led to a drug dealer's death. Davion Dean, 28, pleaded guilty March 29 to attempted robbery resulting in bodily injury and dealing in a narcotic drug. Gary Police arrived at 1:40 p.m. March 30, 2023, to the 4400 block of Delaware Street, where a young man lay on the front steps of a small apartment building. The victim was identified as Jordan Miller, 24, of East Chicago. Dean pitched the robbery to Brandon McFadden, who is charged with shooting Miller six times, court records state. Dean's sentencing hearing is May 29 before Judge Natalie Bokota, who would have to accept the plea deal. McFadden's trial is scheduled for November. A Schererville man was sentenced to 25 years in prison April 2 for molesting a preteen girl. Kerin Banegas-Ramos, 40, pleaded guilty in February to Level 1 felony child molesting. According to court documents, Banegas-Ramos admitted he sexually assaulted the child from January to October 2023. A 21-year-old Lake Station man faces charges that he had sex with a girl, 15. Rickey Bailey, 21, is charged with four felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and one misdemeanor. He is in custody, held on a $5,000 cash bond. His next hearing is Tuesday. The teen's mother told Hobart Police the girl ran away March 23. She posted on social media that she planned to leave Indiana after her Dairy Queen shift. The girl and Bailey were found together the next day. Investigators subpoenaed Facebook messages where she said she was ready to be a mom, and called Bailey her 'baby daddy.' They planned to go to Missouri. The girl told him she was 17. Bailey denied having sex with her, then admitted he did after learning her real age. Prosecutors dismissed charges against a Hammond woman on March 20 in connection with a shooting over Xanax pills at a gas station, saying that they couldn't prove it. Nora Vera, 53, was charged in 2023 with Level 3 felony aggravated battery and Level 5 felony battery by means of a deadly weapon, according to Lake Superior Court records. Hammond Police were called at 8:49 p.m. July 26, 2023, to a Speedway Gas Station, 6845 Calumet Ave., for a reported shooting. There, they saw a male victim shot and lying on the ground in the south parking lot. Witnesses said he had been pushed out of a dark colored pickup before it took off. Nearby security video appeared to show the shooting. The victim initially lied to police, saying he was buying marijuana from an 'older couple.' He got in their truck and they got angry when he asked to use Apple Pay. The son, Ladislao Vera Jr., connected him for the sale. Ladislao Vera Sr. shot the victim, who said he had a gun, too, but couldn't use it in time, court records state. Days later, in a second police interview, the victim admitted he was buying 250 Xanax pills. He was scared to be charged, documents state. He met the couple once before. At the hospital, staff told him he was shot four times. Hammond Police executed a search warrant Aug. 10, 2023, at the Veras' house. There, they confiscated a gun case, extended gun magazine, and iPhone. They also found 'numerous' pill bottles of 'many types' in various bedrooms. The case against Vera Sr. is still pending. Charges against her son, Vera Jr., were dismissed in October. A Gary man got nine years on March 21 for dealing fentanyl to an undercover informant. Arthur Boyd, 57, pleaded guilty in February to dealing in a narcotic drug. Court records state the drug deal happened on May 5, 2023, on the 2000 block of Ohio Street in Gary. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed several other drug possession and dealing charges. Post-Tribune archives contributed. mcolias@
Chicago Tribune
07-04-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Court briefs: Fatal drug robbery sentencing, sex crimes involving minors, shooting charges dropped
Gary man faces up to 20 years for setting up fatal drug robbery A Gary man faces up to 20 years after admitting he set up the robbery that led to a drug dealer's death. Davion Dean, 28, pleaded guilty March 29 to attempted robbery resulting in bodily injury and dealing in a narcotic drug. Gary Police arrived at 1:40 p.m. March 30, 2023, to the 4400 block of Delaware Street, where a young man lay on the front steps of a small apartment building. The victim was identified as Jordan Miller, 24, of East Chicago. Dean pitched the robbery to Brandon McFadden, who is charged with shooting Miller six times, court records state. Dean's sentencing hearing is May 29 before Judge Natalie Bokota, who would have to accept the plea deal. McFadden's trial is scheduled for November. Schererville man gets 25 years for molesting preteen girl A Schererville man was sentenced to 25 years in prison April 2 for molesting a preteen girl. Kerin Banegas-Ramos, 40, pleaded guilty in February to Level 1 felony child molesting. According to court documents, Banegas-Ramos admitted he sexually assaulted the child from January to October 2023. Lake Station man, 21, charged after having sex with 15-year-old girl A 21-year-old Lake Station man faces charges that he had sex with a girl, 15. Rickey Bailey, 21, is charged with four felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and one misdemeanor. He is in custody, held on a $5,000 cash bond. His next hearing is Tuesday. The teen's mother told Hobart Police the girl ran away March 23. She posted on social media that she planned to leave Indiana after her Dairy Queen shift. The girl and Bailey were found together the next day. Investigators subpoenaed Facebook messages where she said she was ready to be a mom, and called Bailey her 'baby daddy.' They planned to go to Missouri. The girl told him she was 17. Bailey denied having sex with her, then admitted he did after learning her real age. Charges against woman in drug shooting dismissed Prosecutors dismissed charges against a Hammond woman on March 20 in connection with a shooting over Xanax pills at a gas station, saying that they couldn't prove it. Nora Vera, 53, was charged in 2023 with Level 3 felony aggravated battery and Level 5 felony battery by means of a deadly weapon, according to Lake Superior Court records. Hammond Police were called at 8:49 p.m. July 26, 2023, to a Speedway Gas Station, 6845 Calumet Ave., for a reported shooting. There, they saw a male victim shot and lying on the ground in the south parking lot. Witnesses said he had been pushed out of a dark colored pickup before it took off. Nearby security video appeared to show the shooting. The victim initially lied to police, saying he was buying marijuana from an 'older couple.' He got in their truck and they got angry when he asked to use Apple Pay. The son, Ladislao Vera Jr., connected him for the sale. Ladislao Vera Sr. shot the victim, who said he had a gun, too, but couldn't use it in time, court records state. Days later, in a second police interview, the victim admitted he was buying 250 Xanax pills. He was scared to be charged, documents state. He met the couple once before. At the hospital, staff told him he was shot four times. Hammond Police executed a search warrant Aug. 10, 2023, at the Veras' house. There, they confiscated a gun case, extended gun magazine, and iPhone. They also found 'numerous' pill bottles of 'many types' in various bedrooms. The case against Vera Sr. is still pending. Charges against her son, Vera Jr., were dismissed in October. Gary man gets 9 years for dealing fentanyl A Gary man got nine years on March 21 for dealing fentanyl to an undercover informant. Arthur Boyd, 57, pleaded guilty in February to dealing in a narcotic drug. Court records state the drug deal happened on May 5, 2023, on the 2000 block of Ohio Street in Gary. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed several other drug possession and dealing charges.
Chicago Tribune
04-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Porter tries again to fund sewer to spur development north of U.S. 20
The redevelopment of the Johnson Inn site at Porter Beach or any large residential and commercial development north of U.S. 20 in Porter cannot happen without an upgrade of the town's sanitary sewer system. It's why the town is trying again to obtain a grant to finance a force main and lift station that could serve the area. Michael Barry, the town's building commissioner and development director, recently submitted through U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, a community project application for a $4.5 million federal grant. The town would provide a $1.5 million match toward the projected $6 million construction cost. 'The ability to leverage $130 million in private partnership funds to redevelop multiple properties is significant to the town as well as the adjacent region,' Barry said in his application. Porter last year unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a state Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) grant for the same project. The sewer main would start at Franklin Street and Waverly Road and proceed on Waverly to north of U.S. 20, where a lift station would be built. The sewer line would also open up potential development possibilities east of the U.S. 20-Indiana 49 interchange. The lack of sewer capacity has hampered the town's economic development opportunities. Another key parcel is the 39-acre site at the corner of Waverly Road and U.S. 20, which once was the site of a waterpark. Porter had approved a planned unit development agreement for a large apartment complex with a Chicago developer, who withdrew his proposal in 2019. The Utah company that owned the waterpark — which was shut down in June 2017 by the health department after 11 children suffered chlorine burns — proposed to carry through the apartment plan. The town's planning commission rejected that idea in September 2022. The focus has been on the condemned, ramshackle Johnson Inn, which sits on a valuable Porter Beach lakefront site. Carl Dahlin Jr., the inn's owner, died at age 90 on Sept. 22, 2024, and the disposition of the property is being determined in a supervised probate case in Lake Superior Court/Probate Division. The next hearing is scheduled on April 23. Chuck Williams of C.L. Williams Company had been negotiating to buy the property and is poised to buy the property once the probate process is finished, Barry has said. Williams had overseen the restoration of the Indiana Dunes Pavilion at the nearby state park in a public-private partnership with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Williams hasn't revealed his plans, but in late 2021, the Northwest Indiana Forum, without the town of Porter's knowledge, was going to apply for a $30 million READI grant that would have helped to fund the inn's demolition and the construction of a four or five-story structure. That proposal was withdrawn. There are many other side benefits from the sanitary sewer line for existing Porter Beach properties. 'The residents at Porter Beach would have the opportunity to access sanitary sewer and eliminate their septic systems,' Barry said in the application. Most of the septic systems for the beach properties are 50 or more years old and non-conforming to current regulations. Shutting down the septic system would eliminate the potential contamination of Lake Michigan waters. A sewer would also allow the Indiana Dunes state and national parks to switch their restrooms from the septic system to a sanitary sewer. Barry noted that the town can leverage property taxes collected within a Transit Development District (TDD) recently created around the Dune Park South Shore train station. The TDD works similarly to Tax Increment Financing (TIF), which allows a government to use a portion of property taxes collected within a designated area toward infrastructure. The Marquette Greenway Trail also is in the process of being built in sections through Porter and the Indiana Dunes National Park. When the 60-mile trail from Calumet Park in Chicago to New Buffalo, Michigan, is finished, it's expected to further enhance the area's tourism opportunities.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lake County Judge Calvin Hawkins gets 30-day suspension for sexually harassing court employees
The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications said Wednesday it will suspend a Lake County civil judge in East Chicago for 30 days for sexually harassing court employees. The vote was 3 to 2, with Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Justice Christopher Goff dissenting, saying Judge Calvin Hawkins, 79, of Gary, should be removed from the bench 'due to his repeated acts of sexual harassment.' The suspension is from March 31 to April 30. Hawkins will also have to complete sexual harassment training via the National Center for State Courts. 'The parties agree that an appropriate sanction is a thirty-day suspension without pay,' according to the decision. 'A judicial suspension is a very severe sanction, and it is fully warranted here.' Hawkins' lawyer James Voyles could not be immediately reached. At least three women accused him of inappropriate behavior, according to filings. Hawkins' staff had to move a civil trial to Lake Superior Court in Hammond on Oct. 19, 2023, after technical difficulties stopped them from recording it in his East Chicago courtroom. One female staffer in Hammond said Hawkins started to rub her shoulder when he introduced himself and stared at her chest. Later, a secretary was kneeling over to help fix recording equipment in the Hammond courtroom. Hawkins said she was 'on her hands and knees.' The woman interpreted it as a sexual reference due to how 'he was looking at her,' filings show. Another staffer in the room shared her conclusion. Investigators allege Hawkins hugged and kissed another woman on his staff last year. He testified he kissed her on the cheek or head. He said he was a hugger. 'It has a negative effect, but there's a certain aspect of it, one's humanity,' he said in his deposition. 'And I don't want to demean the fact that if that's not something you're sensitive to, you can go crazy with it. Okay? And you could become a…predator.' 'My characterization of when I got this, the only person that I felt could have had any kind of feeling would be the young lady (the initial Hammond staffer) that I had met for the very first time.' Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Hawkins to the bench in 2007 to replace Judge Robert A. Pete, who died during his term. U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan briefly honored Hawkins on the House floor for Black History Month in Feb. 2023, citing his commitment to civil rights and his stay-in-school program. Hawkins previously told the Post-Tribune that he grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended the March on Washington in 1963 days before he moved to Indiana to go to Huntington College. mcolias@
Chicago Tribune
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
State appeals Gary gun lawsuit ruling
The state of Indiana wants the Indiana Court of Appeals to dismiss the city of Gary's 26-year-old lawsuit against the gun industry, citing a new law passed last year. Attorney General Todd Rokita said Monday he filed a brief seeking the dismissal with the appellate court. 'In effect, the city is trying to use the courts rather than the legislature to enact gun policies and regulate law-abiding citizens' access to weapons and ammunition,' he said in a release. Gary's lawsuit, filed during a period when gun violence was escalating, alleged the gun industry should be held as a public nuisance for supplying guns they know will reach criminals and others who can't legally buy them. The state has made several past attempts to kill the lawsuit. Last year, it passed a new law with a date made retroactive to three days before Gary filed its 1999 lawsuit. The measure removes the rights of municipalities to sue the gun industry, allowing only the state to file lawsuits. In rejecting the firearms manufacturers and sellers' motion to dismiss the lawsuit after the new law passed, Lake Superior Court Judge John Sedia called the new law unconstitutional and violated vested rights. He labeled the law as retroactive and said it singled out Gary. Rokita, a Republican and Munster native, said Gary's lawsuit 'amounted to a swipe at Hoosiers' Second Amendment rights.' The brief argued Sedia erred in refusing to apply the new state law to the case and that the city has no vested rights against the state in its power to file lawsuits. The new law barring municipalities from suing gun manufacturers also doesn't violate the state constitution regarding special legislation, the brief stated: 'It is a valid exercise of the State's policymaking authority to address the impact of municipal litigation on the firearm industry, state policies, and law-abiding citizens' Second Amendment rights.'
