Indiana Man Sentenced to More Than 19 Years in Federal Prison for Trafficking Cocaine

TEXARKANA – A South Bend, Indiana man was sentenced yesterday to 235 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release for possessing 20 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute it.  The Honorable Chief Judge Susan O. Hickey presided over the trial and sentencing hearing, which were held in the U.S. District Court in Texarkana.

According to court documents, on February 26, 2022, an Arkansas State Trooper conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Sidney Hunt, age 42, on Interstate 30 near Hope, Arkansas. Hunt initially consented to a search of the vehicle, but after the Trooper located a large amount of narcotics in the rear compartment, Hunt fled across all four lanes of Interstate 30 and into the woods.  Hunt was later located walking alongside the interstate and taken into custody. The narcotics seized from Hunt’s vehicle were later determined to be approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine.

Hunt was indicted on drug trafficking charges by a Federal Grand Jury in the Western District of Arkansas in July of 2022. In April 2025, a Texarkana-area federal jury found Hunt guilty of all charges. During the trial, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent testified that the street value of 20 kilograms of cocaine at the time of Hunt’s arrest was approximately $360,000.  Trial testimony also revealed that Hunt obtained the narcotics in Texas and was transporting them to a drug trafficker in Tennessee when he was stopped by Arkansas law enforcement.

U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.

Arkansas State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Still and Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Jones prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website at www.pacer.gov.