Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

HAMMOND- Herman Lamont Banks, 49 years old was sentenced by United States District Court Senior Judge Jon E. DeGuilio after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Banks was sentenced to 70 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, on September 29, 2019, law enforcement was dispatched to a welfare check outside a bar located in Gary, Indiana.  Law enforcement discovered Banks asleep or unconscious behind the wheel of a running car with its headlights on.  As Banks eventually woke up and got out of the car, officers saw and recovered a firearm with a loaded drum magazine attached to it from under the driver’s seat.  Bank’s criminal history revealed he had two prior federal felony narcotic convictions, and as such was prohibited from possessing the firearm or ammunition in this case.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force and the Gary Police Department.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Joel L. Mathur and Kevin F. Wolff.     

This case was also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.