11 sentenced after federal investigation into armed drug trafficking ring

INDIANAPOLIS -- As a result of an investigation into an armed drug trafficking ring, 11 people were recently sentenced in Indianapolis Federal Court after hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills and more than 15 kilograms of methamphetamine were trafficked into central Indiana.

According to a news release from the Indianapolis division of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, officials said that these sentencings were part of "a takedown of a massive, highly organized criminal enterprise flooding Central Indiana."




The following individuals were sentenced, according to the release:

• Christopher Miller
  
  
  
  • 29-year-old Indianapolis resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to launder monetary instruments
    
    
    
    
    
    • Engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 26 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Jamie Sullivan
  
  
  
  • 22-year-old Indianapolis resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to launder monetary instruments
    
    
    
    
    
    • Distribution of controlled substances
    
    
    
    
    
    • Possession with intent to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 24 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Tameico Johnson
  
  
  
  • 22-year-old Fishers resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances.
    
    
    
    
    
    • Distribution of controlled substances.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 20 years and 10 months in federal prison, along with five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Jayden Bertram
  
  
  
  • 22-year-old Carmel resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 20 years and 10 months in federal prison, along with five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Courtlin Moncrief
  
  
  
  • 29-year-old Avon resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Camonte Miller
  
  
  
  • 21-year-old Indianapolis resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
    
    • Possession with intent to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Jordan Sumner
  
  
  
  • 22-year-old
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
    
    • Possession with intent to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
    
    • Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 16 years and eight months in federal prison, along with five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Afrika Railynne Williams
  
  
  
  • 29-year-old Indianapolis resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to launder monetary instruments
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 13 years and four months in federal prison, along with five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Monica Sumner
  
  
  
  • 20-year-old Indianapolis resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 12.5 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  





• Dewell Simpson
  
  
  
  • 18-year-old Indianapolis resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
    
    • Possession of a machine gun
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to 11 years and eight months in federal prison, along with five years of supervised release
  
  
  
  





• Regina Weatherford
  
  
  
  • 60-year-old Indianapolis resident
  
  
  
  
  
  • Charged with:
    
    
    
    • Possession with intent to distribute controlled substances
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • Sentenced to five years and five months in federal prison, along with four years of supervised release.
  
  
  
  

The release said that Jaraughn Bertram, who was killed in September 2024 in Mexico, was the leader of a drug trafficking organization in central Indiana. Joaquin Carranza, an Arizona resident, reportedly fled to Mexico after federal charges were announced in relation to this case. The release said that Carranza "remains a fugitive."




The organization trafficked "significant quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine from Arizona" to Central Indiana, including the Indianapolis, Muncie and Anderson areas.








Multiple couriers were used to obtain the drugs from Arizona and fly them to Indianapolis in checked luggage. The release said that drugs were also shipped to Indiana using the mail. Members of the group, including Miller, Williams and Sullivan, laundered the organization's proceeds using CashApp transactions, currency exchanges, vehicle purchases and bank deposits.




"This was not just a drug bust- it was a takedown of a massive, highly organized criminal enterprise flooding Central Indiana with poison on an industrial scale," Tom Wheeler, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said in the release. "Dozens of law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal levels worked tirelessly together, coordinating for years across jurisdictions to take down this operation. Thanks to their extraordinary partnership, these dangerous traffickers are behind bars, and our communities are safer."




As part of the investigation, officials said that the following items were recovered:

• 128 firearms





• 61 machine gun conversion devices





• $722,626 in currency





• 22 vehicles





• 118 pounds of methamphetamine





• 78 kilograms of fentanyl





• 501 pounds of marijuana





• 315 grams of cocaine





• 216 grams of heroin

"The defendants profited by flooding our neighborhoods with deadly drugs, leaving devastation in their wake-shattered families, lost lives, and communities in crisis," FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. O'Malley said in the release. "Today's sentences send a clear message: if you exploit our communities and profit from their pain, we will come for you. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will be unrelenting in hunting down these traffickers and driving them off our streets."





via: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/11-sentenced-after-federal-investigation-into-armed-drug-trafficking-ring/