Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 420 Months in Prison

FORT WAYNE - Detric L. Cummings, 43 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady, announced Acting United States Attorney M. Scott Proctor. Prior to trial, Cummings pled guilty to counts charging him with distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl. After a four-day trial, a jury then found him guilty of armed drug trafficking, firearms possession, and maintaining drug-involved premises.

Detric Cummings was sentenced to 420 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.

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.

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. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lesley J. Miller Lowery and Justin C. Sheridan.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.