CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for trafficking firearms and drugs. In the fall of 2024, Efrain Jacobo sold methamphetamine, cocaine and seven firearms in a series of transactions in Joliet. Unbeknownst to Jacobo, the buyers were undercover law enforcement officers...

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for illegally possessing two firearms and injuring a law enforcement agent who was attempting to arrest him. On the morning of Jan. 31, 2022, members of a Drug Enforcement Administration Enforcement Group, accompanied...

ROCKFORD, Ill. — A Rockford man has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and heroin. DeMargio Tripp, 36, pleaded guilty earlier this year to distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl and heroin in the Rockford area in 2024 and 2025. Tripp also admitted that...

MADISON, Wis. – Jamar M. Purnell, 49, Chicago, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 400 grams or more of fentanyl and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of...

FORT WAYNE, Indiana – On May 13, 2026, Neumen Jacobs, 32, of Fort Wayne, was sentenced to 78 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl and being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to...

SOUTH BEND, Indiana – Charles Pheal Jr., 35, of Michigan City, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to distributing 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. “While drug dealing, Mr. Pheal alleged to be selling...

HAMMOND, Indiana – David Winchell, 48, of Rohnert Park, California, was sentenced to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering. Winchell was also ordered to pay a $680,000 money judgment. “The Drug Enforcement Administration will...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On April 23, 2026, Devin Melvin, 33, of Detroit, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl, announced Northern District of Indiana U.S. Attorney Adam L. Mildred. Melvin was sentenced...

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for coordinating more than 200 shipments of methamphetamine from California to Chicago. In 2022 and 2023, Keith R. McCormick mailed more than 200 parcels—each containing a pound of 90-100% pure methamphetamine—from his residence in Sacramento, California, to...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Jaron Williams, 44, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced Feb. 10, 2026, to 72 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl, a mixture...