Indiana Man Sentenced to Nearly 16 Years for Drug Trafficking, Gun Offenses

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Alfred Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Tywan Church, 43, of Fort Wayne, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to distribution of a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

Church was sentenced to 190 months' imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, on three separate occasions in September and October 2022, law enforcement purchased cocaine, cocaine base, and methamphetamine from Church at a Fort Wayne motel where he was living. A later search of his motel room yielded additional quantities of cocaine base, methamphetamine, fentanyl, a fentanyl analogue, and other drugs. Evidence of drug trafficking as well as a firearm was also found in his room.

This case was investigated by the DEA in coordination with the Indiana State Police and the Fort Wayne Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley J. Miller Lowery.