MAN PLEADS GUILTY AFTER FACEBOOK THREATS TO GARY MAYOR
A former Gary man signed a federal plea deal last week after allegedly making a series of threats to Mayor Eddie Melton on Facebook in September.
Jarvere Watson, 39, of Indianapolis, pleaded guilty March 19 to transmitting in interstate commerce a communication that contained a threat to injure the person of another.
A plea charge hearing is set for April 8 before Judge Gretchen Lund in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
An unnamed Gary Police officer allegedly passed screenshots to an FBI agent, records show.
“I want him dead,” Watson allegedly commented on one of Melton’s political flyers.
“Gary GDs have 1.8 million on his head,” Watson wrote, which federal agents inferred was a possible reference to the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples.
“I want my city and u dead. Plz excuse urself from my city, for all I have are Watsons and Levis kill u,” he wrote in a separate post, tagging Melton’s office.
MAN FACES UP TO 14 YEARS FOR POURING BOILING WATER, BLEACH ON WOMAN
A Chicago man could face up to 14 years for pouring boiling water and bleach on a woman, court records show.
Ja’Sun Richardson, 28, pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony, and three counts of neglect of a dependent, all Level 6 felonies.
The plea calls for a 12-year sentence on aggravated battery and a concurrent two-year sentence on all neglect charges.
Prosecutors and his defense attorney will argue at sentencing if the entire sentence is concurrent, or consecutive – i.e., if he serves 12 or 14 years.
If a judge accepts the plea, his sentencing is May 12.
Gary Police responded at 6:15 a.m. on July 13, 2023, to the 4400 block of W. 21st Avenue.
The woman had to jump out a window and run next door for help.
When police got to the hospital, a Methodist nurse told investigators the woman was already intubated. The investigator noted skin was peeling off her face.
She was transferred to a Chicago trauma hospital. The nurse said the victim told her Robertson lost it after finding out she was talking with another man.
The woman had recently given him divorce papers, according to the affidavit.
CHESTERTON MAN GETS 7-YEAR SPLIT TERM IN FATAL CRASH
A Chesterton man was sentenced Wednesday to a seven-year split term in a fatal crash, records show.
Justin Eder, 32, pleaded guilty Feb. 3 to causing death when operating a vehicle with an ACE of .08 or more.
He was sentenced to four years in prison, two years in Lake County Community Corrections Kimbrough work release, and one year probation. His driver’s license will be suspended for three years, according to the plea deal’s terms.
Eder was driving 94 mph before the crash and had a blood alcohol level more than 1.5 times the legal limit, according to court documents.
Indiana State Police troopers arrived on April 6, 2021, at the accident site on Interstate 80 eastbound, just past the Broadway Avenue exit.
A witness told troopers Eder was heading around a semi when he rear-ended a Toyota, according to the affidavit.
The Toyota’s driver was being treated by EMTs. The passenger, Zahid Ali, 39, of Marshalltown, Iowa, died a week later, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
mcolias@post-trib.com; Post-Tribune archives contributed.
