Lake County Courts
August 31, 2012 6:00PM
Updated: September 1, 2012 4:41PM
Man sentenced to 6 years for child molesting
A Lake Station man was sentenced to six years in prison Friday for child molesting involving an 11-year-old girl.
Lucas Pridemore, 19, of the 2500 block of Marion Street, admitted he engaged in a sex act with the girl in December 2010 at the girl’s home and near Grand Boulevard Lake in Lake Station.
Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. imposed the six-year sentence outlined in the plea agreement.
Pridemore had faced six to 20 years on the charge. A second child molesting charge punishable by two to eight years was dismissed.
Man sentenced for confining his wife
Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced a Chicago Heights, Ill., man to eight years in prison for criminal confinement.
Oscar Armando Hinojosa, 41, admitted he confined his ex-wife between Dec. 10 and Dec. 11 at her residence in the Hebron area. The incident occurred when Hinojosa and the woman got into a verbal argument that turned physical when Hinojosa struck the woman in the face, pulled her hair and would not let her leave.
“I have to live with my mistakes for the rest of my life,” Hinojosa said, adding that he had changed his life during the eight months he has spent in jail.
Man gets 5 years in botched drug deal
Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced a Gary man to five years in prison for his role in a botched drug deal that left one of his alleged accomplices dead.
Tyler Antonio Taylor admitted he, co-defendant Russell Johnson and Nicholas Gillis had planned to rob Andrew Higgins, who intended to purchase marijuana from the trio on Aug. 7, 2011.
Higgins drove to McKinley Street in Gary and waited for Taylor and Johnson The plan was for Taylor and Johnson to distract Higgins while Gillis robbed him. As Gillis approached with a gun, Higgins shot him and thwarted the robbery.
Gillis, 23, of Gary, was shot in the head and died the following day after being disconnected from life support.
Johnson, 24, was sentenced to eight years.
“So much of this was absolutely avoidable,” the judge told Taylor, 19, whose sentence was outlined in his plea agreement.
He had faced six to 20 years on the original charge.
