‘Greater danger to the public’: Illegally armed Indy fentanyl dealer gets 5 years in prison

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man who pled guilty to dealing fentanyl and cocaine while illegally armed will now spend the next half-decade behind bars.

LaDarien McGee, 27, was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to cocaine and fentanyl possession with intent to distribute.

Court documents show that in early January, Indy police officers stopped McGee at a gas station on West Washington Street and executed a state search warrant and a fugitive arrest warrant. As IMPD officers approached him, McGee reportedly ran away on foot.

After a short chase, IMPD said they found a small bag with about 3.2 grams of fentanyl pills on McGee’s person. He also had a 9mm Glock handgun inside his car, court docs show.

Immediately after the arrest, officers also used a search warrant on McGee’s house. Inside his bedroom, they reportedly found a red shoebox that contained:

• 39 grams of fentanyl pills,
• A digital scale with cocaine residue, and
• 13.4 grams of cocaine.

“Fentanyl is devastating our communities at an unprecedented rate. Illegally armed fentanyl dealers pose an even greater danger to the public,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “We continue to work diligently with the ATF, IMPD, and other agencies to counter these deadly drugs and remove armed fentanyl dealers from our neighborhoods.”

Officers kept searching and found a 5.7 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver under the pillows on McGee’s bed. They also found a 5.56 caliber Kel-Tec AR variant pistol on the wall beside the bed and a .380 Smith & Wesson handgun on a clothing rack.

Court docs show that McGee is already a convicted felon after he was found guilty of trafficking with an inmate in Hendrick County. This legally bars him from ever owning a gun.

In a press release sent Monday, Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley A. Blackington for prosecuting the case. McGee’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.

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