Department of Justice

HAMMOND- Charles Devon Byron Cook, 32 years old, of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James T. Moody on his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Cook was sentenced to 63 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, on July 15, 2020, law enforcement was dispatched to a disturbance and upon arrival, observed Cook toss a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol into a vehicle.  Law enforcement recovered a loaded extended firearm magazine from Cook’s pocket.  Cook’s criminal history indicates that he had previously been convicted of multiple felony offenses, including failing to register as a sex or violent offender, auto theft, carrying a handgun without a license, and felon in possession of a firearm.  These convictions prohibited him for possessing a firearm or ammunition.          

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive/Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force with assistance of the East Chicago Police Department.   This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas J. Padilla.      

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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