Detric L. Cummings, a 43-year-old resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been sentenced to 420 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. The sentencing was handed down by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady and announced by Acting United States Attorney M. Scott Proctor.
Cummings had previously pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl. Following a four-day trial, a jury convicted him of armed drug trafficking, firearms possession, and maintaining premises for drug activities.
Court documents indicate that between July and August 2022, Cummings sold methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl to an undercover officer from the Fort Wayne Police Department. During one transaction, he was armed with at least one firearm; on another occasion, he sold a revolver to the same officer during a drug deal. Authorities later searched one of his properties used for drug activity and seized six firearms, ammunition, two digital scales, and additional quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
Cummings’s criminal record includes violent offenses dating back to his youth. As a juvenile he committed attempted robbery and escaped detention. His adult convictions include battery for shooting a man; while incarcerated for that crime he was convicted twice more—once for punching a correctional officer and breaking his nose and again for spitting on another officer. About four months after being released from prison on those charges, Cummings shot a woman multiple times while attempting to collect a drug debt. He served further time in prison after being found with an eight-inch metal shank while incarcerated. After release from these sentences he continued committing crimes culminating in the present conviction.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives with assistance from the Fort Wayne Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Indiana State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Lesley J. Miller Lowery and Justin C. Sheridan prosecuted the case.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative—which aims to reduce violent crime through partnerships among law enforcement agencies at all levels—the Department launched an updated violent crime reduction strategy on May 26, 2021 based on building trust within communities; supporting community-based organizations working toward violence prevention; setting focused enforcement priorities; and measuring outcomes.
