Department of Justice

SOUTH BEND – Vincent Peaks, Jr., 24 years old, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Peaks was sentenced to 71 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, in May of 2020, law enforcement responded to gunshots in the early morning hours and found a crowd in the street. Peaks ran from the crowd and threw a stolen 9-millimeter pistol into a backyard, which firearm was recovered. Peaks has two prior convictions for firearms-related offenses, including a conviction for armed robbery with a firearm. He was on probation for the armed robbery when this offense occurred.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the South Bend Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Molly E. Donnelly and John M. Maciejczyk.

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.