Hogsett Announces Eleven Individuals Indicted By Federal Grand Jury For Cocaine Drug Trafficking

INDIANAPOLIS - Joseph H. Hogsett, United States Attorney, and representatives from the Indiana State Police, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD), announced today that federal charges have been filed and are being brought in furtherance of a long standing investigation named “Operation Family Ties” involving a drug trafficking operation in Indianapolis.

Hogsett announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the following individuals with cocaine trafficking:

Benigno Reyes-Contrerra, 27
Edgar Dominguez-Castillo, 25
Gerardo Baltierra, 29
Fellipe Maguellal, 22
Wade Havvard, 36
Antjuan Dyson, 36
Larry Eugene Coe, 39
Tuwanna Harney, 37
Timika Highbaugh, 39
Waimond Jackson, 53
Earnest McCain, 55

All 11 defendants have been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Today’s indictment exposes these defendants to mandatory minimum sentences and higher maximum prison sentences than they originally faced when they were charged in state court.

Beginning in March 2010, IMPD began an investigation into a cocaine drug trafficking operation the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood of Indianapolis. Detectives learned that the organization had been trafficking in cocaine for more than two years.

It is alleged that Wade Havvard, Larry Coe and a previously federally indicted individual, Marvin Golden, 35, were significant cocaine traffickers in the Butler-Tarkington area. Hundreds of telephone and text messages were sent between them consistent with drug trafficking. It is alleged they would stash the cocaine in houses around the Butler-Tarkington area then sell to other middle- level dealers who would distribute the cocaine on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

The investigation culminated in the arrest of over 40 individuals in early January 2014, at which time more than 6 kilograms of cocaine was confiscated. Also seized at the time of arrests were marijuana, nine guns, six vehicles and approximately $198,000 in cash.

United States Attorney Hogsett said, Athe alleged conduct in this case is unacceptable for our community. We seek to impose the harshest penalties on those who refuse to observe even the most basic assumptions of civil society. I have promised to seek out the worst of the worst and hold them fully accountable and based on the allegations in the indictment; these defendants justify enhanced penalties in federal court”

Hogsett further praised his local partners by saying, “I want to thank all of our law enforcement partners, particularly the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Indiana State Police, and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, for their dedication to taking these drugs off the street, and, therefore, making our neighborhoods safer. I also want to personally thank the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office for their partnership in bringing these individuals to justice.”

According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Michelle Brady, who is the lead prosecutor in the case for the government, if convicted, some of the defendants face a minimum penalty of 10 years to life. Others face 20 years to life and three defendants face mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.