United States Drug Enforcement Administration

INDIANAPOLIS - Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Indianapolis, and U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana announced that Dayten Abram, 22, of Muncie, Indiana, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl, carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and distribution of more than 40 grams of fentanyl.

According to court documents, on March 16, 2023, Abram was under investigation by the Muncie Police Department for suspected drug trafficking offenses. At approximately 1:09 p.m., officers stopped the defendant after he committed multiple traffic violations. As an officer approached the car, he could smell burnt marijuana and saw a handgun on the driver’s side floorboard, near a BMV receipt with the defendant’s name on it.

A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of $8,749 in cash, the loaded Glock 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, and 1,526 fentanyl pills - containing 213.6 grams of the drug. Abram was arrested and charged in Delaware County, and later released.

On April 27, 2023, while out on bond for the pending state charges, Abram was recorded by law enforcement officers dealing another 503 fentanyl pills to another person, containing 54.7 grams of the narcotic. Abram was subsequently charged in this federal case.

“Undeterred after being caught red-handed with over 1,500 deadly fentanyl pills and a loaded handgun, this criminal continued to push his poison into Muncie’s neighborhoods while out on bond,” said U.S. Attorney Myers. “Fentanyl traffickers care more about making money than they care about the lives destroyed or ended by their deadly product. Thanks to the hard work and skill of the Muncie Police Department, DEA, and our federal prosecutor, the public will be protected from this dangerous, armed trafficker for years. Together with our law enforcement partners, our office is committed to getting these deadly pills off our streets and holding fentanyl traffickers accountable.”

The DEA and Muncie Police Department investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry D. Glickman, who prosecuted this case.