Fremont Indiana Man Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison

FORT WAYNE - Markus W. DeGraw, 40, of Fremont, Indiana, was sentenced before United States District Court Judge Holly A. Brady following his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

DeGraw was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in this case, on the evening of August 27, 2019, DeGraw, a convicted felon and resident of Fremont, Indiana, sent text messages to his estranged wife who was living in Michigan. DeGraw was upset because he believed that his wife had taken his firearms. When his wife denied taking his firearms, DeGraw sent his wife multiple text messages in which he threatened to shoot and kill her. DeGraw also sent his wife a threatening message with a photograph of a handgun.

On the morning of August 28, 2019, DeGraw went to his wife's residence in Michigan where he pointed a firearm at his wife and told her he was going to kill her. DeGraw left before police arrived. Officers obtained a search warrant for DeGraw's home. Inside his garage, law enforcement officers located a loaded .40 caliber handgun along with ammunition of various calibers.

After his arrest, DeGraw admitted that he had possessed the .40 caliber handgun for a couple of years, and that he had obtained it about six months after his release from prison on state convictions in 2016. DeGraw admitted to sending the threatening text messages to his wife the night before in order to scare her.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Fremont Police Department and the Branch County Michigan Sheriff's Office with assistance from the Indiana State Police and the Michigan State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah E. Nokes.