Several notable developments have occurred recently in the Federal Court of South Bend.

Antonio King of Elkhart entered a guilty plea to the felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The magistrate judge has recommended the district court accept the plea. There is a 14-day period in which parties must decide whether or not to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation.

The charge came following an investigation that was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The prosecutor in the case is Donald Schmid. Sentencing will take place March 4.

If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statues and the federal sentencing guidelines.

Disposition

After an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Jeffrey Miller of Osceola was sentenced to 135-month prison sentence, as well as a two-year supervised release and ordered to pay $1,086,222.90 in restitution fees from a nearly two-year scheme.

Miller has been charged with felony counts of interstate transportation of stolen goods as well as money laundering.

According to documents, from approximately June 2012 through January 2014, while an employee at an Elkhart RV manufacturing company, the 46-year-old Miller reportedly stole the copper wire from the company. He sold the copper to scrapyards after transporting it over state lines to sell it in Michigan. In order to avoid questioning from the bank, Miller would take the money he received for the copper  to casinos to bet, depositing only his winnings from the casino into the bank.

Miller intentionally kept his deposits below $10,000 in order to avoid having to file any forms with the government or raising any suspicion.