United States Drug Enforcement Administration

INDIANAPOLIS – Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Adminstration-Indianapolis, and U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana announced on that 18 individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracies to distribute controlled substances, including methamphetamine, and to launder the proceeds of the distributed controlled substances. The indictment was unsealed today following the initial appearances of the defendants.

Yesterday, fifteen defendants were taken into federal custody in Indianapolis, Columbus, Seymour, Terre Haute, and Detroit, Michigan. Three other defendants are still at large. In addition, three individuals were detained for immigration violations.

To date in this investigation, authorities have seized approximately 82 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 1,750 fentanyl pills, approximately 35 grams of fentanyl, approximately one kilogram of cocaine, approximately four pounds of marijuana, and a large quantity of suspected THC gummies. In addition to drug seizures, authorities have seized approximately $9,000 in U.S. currency as suspected drug proceeds as well as nine firearms.

The Jackson County Prosecutors Office has also filed state charges against five additional defendants for dealing methamphetamine, and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor has charged one additional defendant on a state charge for dealing methamphetamine.

The following individuals are in federal custody or *at large:

If convicted on the conspiracy with intent to distribute controlled substances charges, each faces between ten years to life imprisonment, no less than five years supervised release, and a $10,000,000 fine. If convicted on the money laundering charge, each faces a mandatory minimum of up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine. Actual sentences are determined by a federal district court judge and are typically less than the maximum penalties.

The following five Individuals face state prosecution in Jackson County:

The following individual faces state prosecution in Bartholomew County:

The DEA and the Seymour Police Department investigated the case in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Homeland Security Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Jackson County Prosecutors Office, the Columbus Police Department, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, the Bartholomew County Prosecutors Office, the Indiana State Police, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Brownsburg Police Department and the Bloomington Police Department.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.