Editor’s note: The following story is based on information from our news-gathering partner, 95.3 MNC, and a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Bend.
SOUTH BEND — Two Indiana men have been sentenced in separate cases after being convicted of dealing large amounts of fentanyl.
In South Bend, Kendrick Johnson, 38, of South Bend, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Johnson was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
According to court documents, Johnson sold drugs in the spring of 2021. Later that year, investigators executed search warrants on his home and his storage unit, where police found over six kilograms of fentanyl, nearly $800,000 in cash, and three loaded firearms.
In another case, a Michigan City man was sentenced in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Rico Marion, 44 was ordered to serve 37 years in prison.
According to court documents, Marion conspired with others to distribute fentanyl in the Michigan City area in 2021.
Marion sold pills purporting to be oxycodone that were actually fentanyl. In August 2021, Marion and a co-defendant were caught traveling back to Michigan City with over a kilogram of fentanyl pills.
United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson reacted to the sentence of Marion, who was accused of distributing hundreds of grams of fentanyl across parts of northern Indiana.
“Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine meaning as little as 2 milligrams can kill. Our federal, state and local law enforcement partners are focused on dismantling organizations that distribute this deadly illicit drug.”
