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A Fort Wayne man faces more than three decades in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to multiple drug trafficking-related charges in Indiana’s Northern District Court.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Holly Brady sentenced Detric Cummings, 43, to 420 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after he pleaded guilty to counts charging him with distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl.
After a four-day trial, a jury found Cummings guilty of armed drug trafficking, firearms possession, and maintaining drug-involved premises.
According to documents in the case, Cummings sold quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl to an undercover officer with the Fort Wayne Police Department between July and August 2022. Cummings was armed with at least one firearm while conducting a drug transaction.
He later sold that undercover officer a revolver during another drug deal. A subsequent search of one of his drug houses resulted in the seizure of six firearms, ammunition, two digital scales, and additional quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
Cummings has a violent criminal history spanning most of his life. As a juvenile, he committed an attempted robbery and escaped from lawful detention.
As an adult, he was convicted of battery for shooting a man.
While imprisoned for this offense, he was convicted of two additional battery offenses, one for punching a correctional officer and breaking his nose and another for spitting on a correctional officer. About four months after being released from prison, Cummings shot a woman multiple times while trying to collect a drug debt, almost killing her.
While serving a lengthy prison term for these crimes, Cummings was sentenced for possessing a dangerous weapon, an eight-inch metal shank. Once released, Cummings continued to harm the community through the armed drug trafficking that resulted in his conviction in this case, according to the district court.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Indiana State Police.
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