During the federal government shutdown from October 1 to November 12, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana continued its work on criminal cases and public safety. U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler acknowledged the efforts made by his office and other court personnel during what was described as the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Wheeler stated, “U.S. Attorney Wheeler also wishes to specifically acknowledge the dedication of the Federal Judges of the Southern District of Indiana, their staff, the Clerk and her staff, as well as the Marshalls Service during this time as well.”
Despite limited resources, essential operations continued and led to charges against 41 defendants in various criminal matters. The office secured 30 criminal sentencings over the course of the 43-day shutdown period. These sentencings were not previously published due to government closure but have now been released following a return to normal operations.
In Indianapolis, Kimberly Dumes received three years probation after pleading guilty to wire fraud for submitting fraudulent CARES Act loan applications between 2020 and 2021 while employed with the U.S. Postal Service. Mitchell Gibson, an inmate at Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex, was sentenced to an additional 25 years in prison for second-degree murder after torturing his cellmate; he was already serving a sentence for assaulting his pregnant wife.
Desha Morris was sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $335,589 in restitution for mail and benefits fraud involving stolen SNAP benefits through fake identities and forged documents from 2020 to 2022.
Michael Martinez of Camby received a 15-year prison sentence and will serve 20 years supervised release after distributing child sexual abuse material online while on probation for a prior conviction.
In Evansville, Samuel Kirkwood was sentenced to 15 years in prison with lifetime supervised release for producing and possessing child sexual abuse material involving a minor under his care.
Anita Perez from Sellersburg was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $2 million in restitution after preparing hundreds of fraudulent tax returns through her business ChuliTodo between 2021 and 2023.
Uchechukwu Gideon Eze of Nigeria received a sentence of 21 months in prison plus more than $182,000 restitution after orchestrating a business email compromise scheme that defrauded an Indiana company out of significant funds before fleeing overseas.
Dennis Carter and Kyle Wade Owens were sentenced respectively to 20 months and 13 months imprisonment for producing counterfeit currency used across businesses in Indiana and Kentucky by altering genuine bills with chemicals and printing equipment.
For more information on these cases or others handled during this period, full press releases are available on Justice.gov/usao-sdin/news-and-press-releases.
