South Bend Man Sentenced to 101 Months in Prison

SOUTH BEND – Zai’Vohn Perry, 25 years old, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced Acting United States Attorney M. Scott Proctor.

Perry was sentenced on Count 2 of the Indictment to 41 months in prison and on Count 5 to 60 months in prison, those terms to run consecutively.  He was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release on Counts 2 and 5, those terms to run concurrently.

According to documents in the case, in January of 2024, Perry exchanged fire in a mid-afternoon gunfight, shooting 17 rounds in a residential area in South Bend. He engaged in another gun fight a week later, firing several rounds in broad daylight in a residential area in South Bend. Officers obtained a search warrant for his residence and found two firearms, including the gun used in both shootings. Officers also found over 100 fentanyl pills and marijuana packaged for distribution.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the South Bend Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Katelan McKenzie Doyle.

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.