Department of Justice

INDIANAPOLIS- The following 19 individuals have been charged in a series of 4 federal indictments alleging the illegal possession of firearms and machineguns and trafficking hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills and hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine in Central Indiana:

As part of this multiagency operation, federal, state, and local law enforcement officers from 16 different law enforcement agencies, served arrest warrants and search warrants at 18 locations in Central Indiana and in Arizona on the morning of June 22^nd. 16 individuals were arrested and are in federal custody. Three remain as fugitives.

According to court documents and information presented in open court, Jaraughn Bertram and Deondre Perry allegedly led drug trafficking organizations in Central Indiana that trafficked significant quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine from Arizona to the Indianapolis, Anderson, and Muncie areas. The organizations alleged possessed and used firearms, including weapons than had been converted into fully automatic firearms (a/k/a machineguns), to further their drug trafficking activities. 

Machinegun conversion devices, sometimes called “Glock switches” or “auto-sears,” are devices that convert ordinary semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic machineguns. Machinegun conversion devices are themselves considered machineguns under federal law, even when not installed, and are illegal to possess or sell without a special license.

During this year-long investigation, law enforcement seized the following contraband and proceeds of the alleged criminal activity: 

• Over 32.8 kilograms (72.3 pounds) of fentanyl, or over 320,000 fentanyl pills
• Over 53.5 kilograms (117.9 pounds) of methamphetamine
• Over 205.6 kilograms (453.2 pounds) of marijuana
• 113 firearms
• 60 machinegun conversion devices
• Over $521,000 in cash

If convicted, each defendant faces up to life in federal prison.

The following investigative agencies collaborated to make this investigation and the recent warrant execution possible:   

• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
• Federal Bureau of Investigation- Indianapolis
• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Homeland Security Investigations
• Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigation
• United States Marshals Service
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service
• Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
• Indiana State Police
• Fishers Police Department
• Carmel Police Department
• Boone County Sheriff’s Department
• Zionsville Police Department
• Anderson Police Department
• Lawrence Police Department 
• Muncie Police Department
• Fort Wayne Police Department
• Avon Police Department

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Clifford D. Johnson, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, and Gary M. Restaino, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, for the support of their Offices in this investigation.

U.S. Attorney Myers also thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Michelle P. Brady and Kelsey L. Massa, who are prosecuting this case.

This case was brought in conjunction with the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force (ICGTF). ICGTF is a partnership of law enforcement officers and analysts from several central Indiana law enforcement agencies in Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion, Morgan, Johnson, and Shelby counties. In cooperation with state, local, and federal partners, ICGTF collaborates to address violent crime through a comprehensive strategy including innovative approaches to locating suspects and evidence related to violent crimes and illegal possession of firearms.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (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 or criminal complaint are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.