Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison

FORT WAYNE –Jalen Drake, 27 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Drake was sentenced to 100 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, Drake possessed a firearm in March of 2023 after previously being convicted of a felony offense.  In 2018, Drake was convicted in Allen County of dealing in marijuana, and as such, was prohibited from possessing the firearm in this case. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Wayne Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which consists of the FBI, the Indiana State Police, the Allen County Police Department, and the Fort Wayne Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

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.