A Gary man was sentenced to 77 months Tuesday for a pair of Merrillville hotel robberies in January 2023.

Montrell Ward, 51, pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, Acting U.S. Attorney M. Scott Proctor said in a release. He will also serve two years supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Mathur alleged Ward threatened the first hotel clerk with a knife and tied them up with computer cords. A day later, he robbed another hotel clerk by knifepoint.

He took $300 from both robberies, according to documents.

Ward’s defense lawyer Gregory Mitchell noted the robberies were to feed a longtime gambling addiction and other personal struggles, filings show. As a young teen, he joined the Gangster Disciples, but it was “no big deal because it was the group of guys he grew up with and h

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