Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

HAMMOND - The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, Thomas L. Kirsch II, announced that on January 23, 2018, Joseph Uvalle, 35, of Chicago Heights, IL, was sentenced to 276 months imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised release following his conviction by guilty plea to conspiracy to commit racketeering activity (RICO) as a member of the Latin Kings.

According to documents in this case, as part of Uvalle’s plea agreement, he admitted responsibility for the homicide of Raudel Contreras, who was killed in Hammond, Indiana, on August 14, 2014.  Uvalle was also sentenced to 120 months imprisonment on each of two counts of transportation for prostitution with the sentence to run concurrent to his 276-month sentence on the racketeering conspiracy conviction.  Uvalle has been in custody since his arrest in June 2015.  

United States Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II said, “If you are a gang member committing crimes in Northwest Indiana, we are going to focus our cooperative law enforcement efforts on you and your associates.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the FBI Gang Response Investigative Team Task Force and the ATF/HIDTA Task Force.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys’ David Nozick, Abizer Zanzi, and Dean Lanter.     

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