Hammond man gets 5 years

U.S. District Judge Gretchen Lund sentenced a Hammond man Thursday to five years in prison for a federal gun charge.

Isaiah Castro, 23, pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a gun trafficking crime, Acting U.S. Attorney M. Scott Proctor said in a release.

Court filings state Castro had a gun while he sold fentanyl pills on April 16, 2024. A search warrant turned up two weapons, ammunition and cash.

Griffith man charged with child porn

A Griffith man was recently charged after allegedly downloading child porn from February to July.

Brian C. Sadowski, 56, was charged July 11 with six counts of possession of child pornography.

He is in custody, held on an $18,000 cash bond. His next court date is July 25 in a bid to reduce his bond.

U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Skylar Veto wrote an investigation led to Sadowski’s IP address. Investigators wrote he downloaded over 9,000 files from a known child pornography website.

“I know I made a mistake,” Sadowski told agents, adding, “I know I looked at things I shouldn’t have looked at.”

Chicago man jailed for fraud

U.S. District Judge Philip Simon sentenced a Chicago man Tuesday to 46 months in prison for his role in a fraud scheme.

Damone Scott, 24, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. As part of his sentencing, he will repay $13,000 in restitution.

Authorities allege Scott was the “ringleader” of a June-July 2023 scheme where the group deposited $192,000 and withdrew $13,000 in fake checks, Acting U.S. Attorney M. Scott Proctor said in a release.

Hobart man charged with child porn

A Hobart man was charged July 10 with five counts of possession of child pornography.

Indiana State Police arrested Jeffrey Laurinas, 75, of Hobart on July 12. He posted a $9,000 cash bond on July 14. His next court date is July 25.

Authorities allege it took them a year to go through “the large amount of evidence” found on various seized electronic devices they seized in May 2024, according to a release.

Indiana State Police were tipped off by an alert from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

mcolias@post-trib.com