United States Drug Enforcement Administration

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Sterling Bastin, 56, of Wawaka, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady on his plea of guilty to distribution of methamphetamine.

Bastin was sentenced to 14 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, in December 2020 and February 2021, Bastin sold over 140 grams of methamphetamine to another individual.  In May 2021, law enforcement initiated a traffic stop of the vehicle Bastin was driving. However, he disregarded emergency lights and sirens, fled from law enforcement at speeds of 100 miles per hour, lost control of his vehicle and spun out into a ditch, striking a stop sign. Officers seized an additional 3.5 grams of methamphetamine as well as a digital scale from his vehicle.   

This case was investigated by the DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with the assistance of the Auburn Police Department, the Dekalb County Sheriff’s Department and the Butler Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent A. Ecenbarger.