TRUCKING OWNER CHARGED WITH $336K in COVID RELIEF FRAUD
A Merrillville trucking owner was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month after allegedly lying to obtain $336,000 in COVID-19 relief money, filings show.
Borko Stankovic is charged in the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana with wire fraud.
A hearing was scheduled Monday.
Court filings show he falsely applied for the money in multiple loans between May 2020 and October 2021 for two companies he owned – Eclipse Trucking, based in Merrillville, and ESD Team, based in Berwyn, Illinois.
Indiana state filings show Eclipse Trucking is no longer in business.
MAN CHARGED AFTER DRIVING TO INDIANA FOR SEX WITH MINOR
A man is facing federal charges for allegedly crossing state lines to Indiana to have sex with an underage girl.
Donaldson Rax Tul is charged in the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana with travel with intent to engage in illicit conduct with a minor. A detention hearing was held Monday.
He was arrested on March 20 in Chicago. The allegations took place from May 27-28, 2025.
Further information was not immediately available.
HOBART MAN FACES UP TO 30 YEARS IN APARTMENT DRUG SLAYING
A Hobart man is facing up to 30 years after admitting he killed a marijuana dealer during a suspected drug robbery outside an apartment complex.
Jordan Meekins, 19, admitted to voluntary manslaughter.
A judge would have to accept the plea. A hearing was scheduled Tuesday. A sentencing date was not immediately available.
Officers responded just after 5 p.m. July 8, 2025, to an apartment complex on the 300 block of Ruta Drive for a report that three males had pistol-whipped a fourth male, before shots were fired.
Police later learned it was a drug deal gone bad.
They found Tristan Tomak-Trevino, 19, of South Haven, slung over a railing with two cellphones, and a second male from Hobart, 18, shot in the head on the ground, but still alive.
His death was ruled a homicide. He was shot close by in the back of the head. Investigators concluded Tomak-Trevino was there to sell marijuana to the wounded 18-year-old.
EX-SIN CITY OPERATIVE’S SON SIGNS PLEA DEAL IN UNRELATED MURDER
Laron Major, 23, could face 45 years in prison after he signed a plea deal Tuesday for murder in a botched drug deal.
If a judge accepts, his sentencing date is April 24.
He is implicated in the Dec. 20, 2022, death of Rafeial Traywick, 41, of Hammond. Traywick was found shot eight times inside a Dodge Durango on the 600 block of Burr Street in Gary.
A backpack with seven ounces of marijuana and empty baggies was in the passenger seat.
Laron is the son of Ronnie Major, an ex-high-ranking Sin City Disciples operative, who was sentenced to over 24 years in October. Traywick’s death is unrelated to the Gary motorcycle gang’s extensive federal RICO case.
mcolias@post-trib.com; Post-Tribune archives contributed.
