United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson of the Northern District of Indiana announced that Saul Leal, 25, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced, on April 8, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty on his plea of guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine.

Leal was sentenced to 108 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.

According to documents in this case, Leal conspired to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine. Leal and his co-defendants had taken trips to California to obtain drugs for distribution. During the final trip in December 2017, Leal and two other individuals flew to California, obtained 11 kilograms of methamphetamine and cocaine which were loaded into a vehicle headed for the Midwest. The drugs were discovered when the vehicle was stopped by police.

This case was investigated by the DEA with the assistance of the Oklahoma State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Gabrielse.