Law and Order Lake County
June 25, 2012 4:08PM
Updated: June 25, 2012 4:56PM
Lake County Courts
Felon with handgun gets 6 years
Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced a Gary man to six years in prison for unlawful possession of a handgun by a serious violent felon.
Robert Lee White, 49, admitted he had a 12-gauge shotgun in his home in the 800 block of Maryland Street, Gary, on June 6, 2011, when an Indiana parole officer went to his home to serve a warrant.
White was on parole for a burglary conviction. A 1987 conviction for robbery made him a serious violent felon.
The plea agreement outlined the six-year prison sentence.
Guilty plea averts molesting trial
An East Chicago man facing 20 to 50 years in prison on child molesting charges pleaded guilty last week to felony battery in exchange for a one-year sentence.
David Sanchez, 53, admitted he struck an 8-year-old girl between January 2007 and March 2009 with wire hangers and extension cords, causing bruising, scarring and pain to the child. The crime occurred in East Chicago.
Prosecutors had evidentiary issues in proving beyond a reasonable doubt the child molesting allegations.
Sanchez’s trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday before Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray.
Three class A felonies — two counts of child molesting and one count of attempted child molesting — along with two other felony charges were dismissed under terms of the plea agreement submitted on Friday.
Man charged in robbery at casino
A robbery at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond captured on video surveillance led to charges being filed against a Chicago man.
Rashaan Miller, 36, was charged in Lake Superior Court with two counts of robbery and battery.
Two women told police they were getting into their car early on May 27 at the casino parking garage when a man later identified as Miller came over to the passenger side, struck the woman in the side and grabbed the key from the ignition before taking the passenger’s purse and fleeing in a 1994 Buick Regal.
The driver managed to get her car key back, but Miller took off with the passenger’s purse, which contained money, identification, checkbook and credit cards.
Police reviewed surveillance of the robbery and traced the car to Miller’s ex-wife.
On June 3, Schererville police arrested Miller for an unrelated shoplifting. The car in which Miller was riding contained the victim’s purse, along with her driver’s license, checkbook and identification.
The charges are punishable by a six- to 20-year sentence.
Teen pleads guilty to robbery at South Shore shelter
A Gary teen has pleaded guilty to robbery in an attack on a 68-year-old woman at a train shelter in the Miller section.
Aarion Teri Lee Mosley, 17, faces from six to 20 years at his Aug. 17 sentencing hearing before Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. Defense attorney Scott King and deputy prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz will argue an appropriate sentence.
Mosley was 16 and a sophomore at Lew Wallace High School when he robbed the woman on Aug. 13 at the South Shore shelter near Lake Street and U.S. 12 in Gary. Mosley stole the woman’s cell phone and $20 and left bruises on her buttocks and back and soreness to her body.
Mosley had been charged with nine additional felonies, including rape, criminal deviate conduct and criminal confinement. Those charges will be dismissed if the judge accepts the plea agreement.
