A Merrillville woman and her daughter pled guilty Thursday to trying to tamper with a witness against the woman’s son, according to court records.
Dalia Guerrero, 39, and her daughter, Jasmine McMichael, 22, of East Chicago, both pled guilty during a hearing at the U.S. District Court in Hammond to one count of witness tampering. They both face up to 20 years in prison on the charge, although federal attorneys will recommend the serve the minimum of whatever range sentencing guidelines suggest, according to their plea agreements. Michael Lambert, attorney for Guerrero and McMichael, could not be reached for comment.
Guerrero was arrested in July, just hours after her son, Anton James, 19, was arrested on charges connected to his activity with the Latin Kings street gang.
An FBI agent testified during her detention hearing that Guerrero, McMichael and some other women approached the witness against her son while the woman was in summer school at Hammond High School.
When the agent, who happened to drive by the school and see the women talking, interviewed the witness shortly after, she told the agent that Guerrero and the other woman told her to recant her statement to police and that they knew where she lived.
Police then arrested Guerrero, but the agent testified that didn’t stop her. They recorded her asking McMichael if she had tracked the woman down yet. McMichael said she was still working on it.
McMichael was arrested and charged a few days after her mother.
It was not clear as of Friday afternoon if a sentencing hearing had been scheduled.