A Hammond man was sentenced last week to 16 years in prison on a federal gun charge, according to a news release.
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Jahmal Sanders, now 30, pleaded guilty in December 2024 in the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a stolen firearm.
Sanders is currently serving a 13-year sentence for a 2022 rape and burglary conviction in Lake Superior Court for two December 2019 Hammond home invasions.
U.S. Attorney Adam Mildred noted in a statement that 12 years of the federal gun sentence would be consecutive – meaning it runs after the rape sentence. After prison, Sanders will have to serve two years on supervised release.
During that investigation, Hammond Police found five guns when they executed a search warrant of Sanders’ home on Feb. 10, 2020, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Toth wrote in court filings.
Someone in Hammond got robbed earlier that day in a pattern that fit the December 2019 incidents. One of the recovered guns was stolen from the burglary hours earlier.
Police surveillance also showed Sanders was wearing clothes similar to the reported burglar. A DNA hit from the 2019 home invasions matched Sanders.
Defense lawyer Roxanne Mendez Johnson argued he accepted responsibility. His older brother Cameron Sanders, 18, was gunned down in 2013.