Three Rockford-Area Residents Arrested on Drug and Conspiracy Charges

Handguns, Cash, Crack Cocaine and Heroin Seized

ROCKFORD — Three Rockford-area residents were arrested today by federal and local law enforcement officers on drug-trafficking charges.

ANTOWAN S. LAMBERT, also known as “Twan,” 42, of Rockton, and JESSE M. LEAVY, also known as “Lil Jesse” and “Lil Head,” 35, of Rockford, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, or “crack,” and multiple counts of distribution of cocaine or crack.  An indictment returned last week in federal court charged both men with a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base from June through October 2019. In a separate but related case, SAMMY R. GORDON, JR., also known as “Sosa,” 31, of Rockford, was charged by federal criminal complaint with distributing fentanyl and heroin in Rockford.

Law enforcement today also executed court-authorized search warrants at multiple locations in Rockford.  During the searches, authorities recovered ten handguns, approximately $30,000, more than 100 grams of crack, approximately 90 grams of heroin, and more than 4.5 kilograms of marijuana.

The charges were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Bell, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; Timothy Jones, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; Dan O’Shea, Rockford Police Chief; Gary Caruana, Winnebago County Sheriff; Brendan F. Kelly, Director of the Illinois State Police; and Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the IRS–Criminal Investigation Division.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Talia Bucci and Vincenza Tomlinson.

Lambert, Leavy, and Gordon, Jr., appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa A. Jensen in federal court in Rockford.  They pleaded not guilty and will remain in custody pending detention hearings.  The detention hearings for Leavy and Gordon, Jr. are scheduled for Feb. 3, 2020, and for Lambert on Feb. 4, 2020.

The public is reminded that a complaint or an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  Each defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Each count against Lambert and Leavy carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  The count against Gordon, Jr. carries a five-year mandatory minimum and a maximum of 40 years’ imprisonment.  If convicted, the Court must impose reasonable sentences under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Indiana Man Charged With Attempted Online Enticement Of Child To Engage In Criminal Sexual Conduct

NEWARK, N.J. – A Lebanon, Indiana, man was indicted today for attempting to coerce an individual he thought was a 14-year old boy into engaging in sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Randal Wise, 43, is charged by indictment with one count of attempted online enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On Oct. 25, 2019, Wise sent messages via an online dating application to an individual who told Wise that he was a 14-year-old boy in the eighth grade. Unbeknownst to Wise, the individual was an undercover agent (UC) posing as a minor victim. Wise engaged in sexual conversations with the UC and sent photographs of his genitals to the UC. Wise also asked the UC to send nude photographs and invited the UC to his hotel room. The following day, Wise again contacted the UC via the dating application and made arrangements to meet in person at a residence in Somerset, New Jersey. When Wise arrived at the house, he was arrested by law enforcement agents.

The attempted online enticement of a minor charge carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years, a maximum potential penalty of life in prison, and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s indictment. He also thanked the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Michael Robertson, for its assistance.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Astorga of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division.

Iowa Drug Dealer Sentenced to Federal Prison

Had Previous State Drug Trafficking Conviction

A man who admitted selling drugs in the Northern District of Iowa was sentenced today to more than 19 ½ years in federal prison.

David Anthony Vargas, age 48, from Winthrop, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 3, 2019, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

In a plea agreement, Vargas admitted he worked with at least one other person to distribute methamphetamine in the Northern District of Iowa and elsewhere.  Vargas admitted selling drugs to another person on three occasions totaling more than 180 grams of pure methamphetamine.  Officers recovered another 386.2 grams of pure methamphetamine in Vargas’s possession when he was arrested in Burlington, Iowa, and additional methamphetamine at his residence in Winthrop, Iowa.  Vargas was previously convicted in state court of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine in 2007.

Vargas was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Vargas was sentenced to 235 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a ten-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Vargas is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Nydle and investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department, the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Department, the Independence Police Department, the Iowa State Patrol, the Oelwein Police Department, the Urbana Police Department, the Des Moines County Sheriff’s Department, the Tri-County Drug Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).