SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Oct. 7, 2026, Kumar Bishop, 47, of South Bend, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine . Bishop was sentenced to 121 months in...

HAMMOND, Ind. - On Oct. 8, 2026, Darod Wheeler, 55, of Gary, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon after being found guilty by a jury of trafficking methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin. Wheeler was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by eight years of supervised release...

MADISON, Wis. – Chadwick M. Elgersma, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that four more defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley for their roles in a large drug trafficking organization operating in Madison. Treagir Sander, 27, La Crosse, Wisconsin, was sentenced on Sept...

CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago has convicted a man of trafficking methamphetamine to Illinois from California. Hugo Steven De La Cruz Corona, 24, of San Jacinto, California, trafficked the meth on behalf of a Los Angeles-based drug trafficking organization that distributed narcotics throughout the country via the U.S...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Jianhua Zhao, 25, of the People’s Republic of China, and residing in Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty on Oct.1, 2026, after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and distributing five grams or more of methamphetamine...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Sept. 23, 2026, Robert Newton, 34, of Niles, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Newton was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by five...

PEORIA, Ill. – Dione D. Alexander, 37, of Peoria, was sentenced on Sept. 18, 2026, to 120 months’ imprisonment for distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine (actual), to be followed by five years of supervised release. At sentencing the government provided information that between Sept. 4, 2024, and...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Sept. 18, 2026, DeCarlos L. Smallwood, 51, of South Bend, was convicted of eight felony counts after a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty. Smallwood was found guilty of drug and firearm offenses, including conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or...

EVANSVILLE, Ind.- Six individuals, all from Evansville, have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine trafficking ring operating in Southern Indiana. Defendant Sentence Charge(s) Lovechild McGuire, 33 28 years’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to...

URBANA, Ill. – A Danville, Illinois, man, Marcus “Slim” McKinney, 50, was sentenced on Aug. 14, 2026, to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on three drug trafficking charges, including his involvement in a drug conspiracy that resulted in the overdose death of Maggie Avelar on Aug. 19, 2023...