Recidivist Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Additional 15 Years in Federal Prison for Heroin Trafficking

INDIANAPOLIS - Derrick Outlaw, 48, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute over 1 kilogram of a mixture or substance containing heroin.

According to court documents, on April 18, 2021, DEA was investigating a drug trafficking organization operating in Indianapolis, and they identified Outlaw as a heroin distributor for the organization. On April 20, 2021, after conducting surveillance and seeing Outlaw drive different vehicles to various locations in and around Indianapolis, law enforcement officers stopped him at an Indianapolis gas station.

Outlaw agreed to speak to officers and admitted that there was heroin inside the vehicle. Law enforcement officers located 1.36 kilograms of a heroin and fentanyl mixture. According to the DEA, as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal, depending on a person's body size, tolerance, and past usage. Law enforcement officers also located two cellular telephones, one of which Outlaw used to conduct his drug trafficking business. Outlaw admitted that he drove to Camby, Indiana on April 20 to pick up 1.5 kilograms of heroin for which he was to receive $70,000 in U.S. currency.

A search warrant was executed at Outlaw's apartment where law enforcement officers located $26,521 in rubber-banded U.S. currency and multiple cellular telephones. Prior to committing the April 20, 2021, offense, Outlaw served a ten-year sentence in federal prison for trafficking cocaine.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Indianapolis Field Office, made the announcement.

DEA investigated the case. Sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson. As part of the sentence, Judge Stinson ordered that Outlaw be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsay Karwoski who prosecuted this case.