United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred 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 Eugene Dawson, 42, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Dawson was sentenced to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, between January and February 2023, Dawson brokered the sale of a 9mm firearm to an individual in exchange for $650. He also provided cocaine to that individual during the firearm transaction. On two other dates, additional drug transactions took place. A search warrant was later executed on Dawson’s home where additional cocaine and marijuana was found in an area accessible to children, under 18, who were in the home. Dawson was previously convicted of selling cocaine in LaPorte County Superior Court, a felony, and as such, was prohibited from possessing the firearm in this case. 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the DEA with assistance from the Michigan City Police Department, the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department and the LaPorte City Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelan M. Doyle.