Department of Justice

FORT WAYNE – Derek B. Veazy, Jr., 24 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Veazy was sentenced to 72 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.

According to documents in this case, in July of 2020, Fort Wayne Police Department Officers responded to a call involving Veazy shooting at a home.  After Officers arrived, Veazy led them on a short vehicle pursuit and a foot chase before he was apprehended.  Officers recovered a revolver that Veazy had thrown from his car, and located a semi-automatic pistol loaded with a high capacity magazine from Veazy’s vehicle.  Officers also recovered a bullet inside the victim’s home which the Indiana State Police laboratory determined had been fired from the pistol in Veazy’s car.  Veazy’s prior felony conviction was for robbery. 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department and the Indiana State Police laboratory.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.