A Gary man held at the Lake County Jail for 13 years — possibly the longest a person’s ever been held there — has finally been sentenced for his crimes.

U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon late last month sentenced Antoine Gates, 48, to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in 2023 to four counts of murder, four counts of robbery and conspiracy to participate in racketeering resulting in the deaths of four people.

Originally facing multiple life sentences had he gone to trial, Simon gave him a sentencing reduction because he gave prosecutors information that “brought some very serious offenders to justice,” he said.

Gates pleaded guilty to the murder of Jocelyn Blair, 31, who was shot in the head Dec. 19, 2010, inside the Coney Island Restaurant, 2490 Broadway, Gary, according to the plea agreement. Gates — whose co-defendant Ronnie Majors paid him $10,000 to kill Blair to prevent her from testifying against him — followed her from the Sin City Deciples’ clubhouse in the 1300 block of Virginia Street to the restaurant, shot her in the head and wounded a second person in the leg.

Those charges were originally filed in Lake Criminal Court in 2016 but were dropped and re-filed in federal court in 2021.

Gates also pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in the conspiracy to commit the murder of Carl Griffith Sr., 72, who was shot with a rifle Nov. 1, 2012, outside Griffith’s Portage home. Ronnie Major’s wife, Sheaurice Major, hired Gates to murder Griffith, who drove a tow truck for Major’s company and allegedly argued with her about the business as she ran the company while Ronnie Majors was in jail for another case.

Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann in November dropped without prejudice the charges against Sheaurice Major, meaning they can be refiled. She was originally charged in 2012, released in 2017 and then recharged in 2018, the Post-Tribune previously reported.

Carl Griffith’s son, Greg Griffith, said in court that he doesn’t care that Gates is headed to prison despite now being wheelchair bound because of multiple sclerosis that was misdiagnosed at the Lake County Jail until 2023.

“You’re not going to get a bleeding heart from me. I don’t feel sorry for him. Not one bit,” he said.

Gates’s attorney, Brian Woodward, asked that Gates be given credit both for his cooperation and because he was stuck in county jail for 13 years with no benefits that even people serving time in federal or state prisons get. Gates was able to walk when Woodward was given his case, for example.

Further charges to which Gates pleaded guilty for his involvement include the August 2010 robbery-murder of 61-year-old Franklin Simmons in Gary; the August 2010 robbery-murder of 41-year-old Kevin Champion outside Champ’s Liquors in Gary; the August 2012 armed robbery of the former Griffith Radio Shack; the October 2012 armed robbery of the former Munster Radio Shack; and the 2010 kidnapping of a currency exchange manager from her home.

“He has one of the most violent time periods I’ve ever seen,” U.S. Deputy Attorney Michael Toth said while explaining the sentencing formula used.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.