Former Law Enforcement Officer Sentenced To 40 Years

Hammond, Indiana - United State Attorney David Capp announced that former police officer John Smith, 56, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was sentenced today to 40 years imprisonment for using police credentials and firearms to protect drug shipments.

In June, 2013, Smith was found guilty at trial of the felony offenses of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, two counts of attempting to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, two counts of possessing firearms in furtherance of a federal drug trafficking crime, and transferring firearms knowing that they would be used in a drug trafficking crime.

Smith had previously served as a police officer with three different Indiana departments:Brooklyn, Knightstown, and Stinesville.The conduct for which Smith was convicted occurred after he had left those departments.Smith, however, continued to illegally utilize his formerly issued police credentials in these drug transactions.

Terry Carlyle, a former Marshal with the Brooklyn, Indiana Police Department and police officer with the Indianapolis Police Department, was a co-conspirator with Smith.Carlyle, who cooperated with the government, was sentenced in September, 2013 to 10 years of imprisonment.

USA Capp stated, “We will continue to investigate public corruption, including police corruption, and will vigorously prosecute and, upon conviction, seek substantial sentences for officers, current or former, who abuse the public trust.”

These charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Indianapolis Field Office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Indiana State Police, with the assistance of the ATF Chicago Field Office, the ATF Merrillville Field Office, the ATF HIDTA Task Force, the Gary Police Department, the Hammond Police Department, the East Chicago Police Department, and the Lake County Police Department.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Nozick and Gary Bell.