Chicago Man Sentenced to 62 Months in Prison

HAMMOND - Damiane Harris, 49 years old, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced by United States District Court Senior Judge James T. Moody upon his plea of guilty to interstate transportation of stolen property and to a supervised release violation in a prior case, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Harris was sentenced to 41 months in prison in the new case followed by 2 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $35,503.58 in restitution to the victims of the offense.

According to documents in the case, Harris broke into a truck sales business in South Bend, Indiana, and stole a semi-tractor. He drove the semi-tractor to a crane rental business in Griffith, Indiana, and used it to steal three semi-trailers loaded with more than 68 tons of crane counterweights and other equipment. He then hauled the counterweights to a scrapyard in Chicago Heights, Illinois, where he sold them for profit. The total intended loss was $310,059.

Harris committed this new offense while on federal supervised release for a similar offense. He received a 21-month sentence for his supervised release violation, which will run consecutive to his sentence for the new offense, for a total sentence of 62 months in prison.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the South Bend Police Department, the Griffith Police Department, and the Chicago Heights Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steven J. Lupa.