Madison Man Sentenced to Over 8 Years for Drug Trafficking and Gun Possession

MADISON, WIS. – Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jalen Hayes, 26, Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced on May 6, 2026, by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 97 months in federal prison for possessing controlled substances intended for distribution and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Hayes pleaded guilty to these charges on February 10, 2026.

In 2025, Hayes was under state supervision after being released from prison for an armed drug trafficking case. On July 5, 2025, he fled from a traffic stop.  On July 25, 2025, officers arrested Hayes, who was carrying a backpack. Hayes set the backpack down and mouthed to his girlfriend, “get the bag.”

Officers searched the backpack and found a loaded 9mm handgun, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, oxycodone, and Xanax pills. A search of Hayes’s phone showed he was advertising controlled substances for sale in social media posts and had purchased the 9mm handgun.

Hayes was prohibited from legally possessing firearms and ammunition because of prior felony convictions, including convictions for armed robbery, armed drug trafficking, and distributing drugs in jail.

At sentencing, Judge Peterson observed that Hayes having a loaded gun meant he was ready to use it. Judge Peterson said that drug dealing is inherently violent and that risk increased by Hayes carrying a gun. Noting an epidemic of gun violence in the community, Judge Peterson said the purpose of the sentence was to send a message to Hayes and the community. 

The charges against Hayes were the result of an investigation conducted by the Fitchburg Police Department and the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force, which is comprised of federal agents from ATF as well as state and local agents throughout the Western District of Wisconsin. Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Stephan prosecuted this case. 

Federal prosecutions by the U.S. Department of Justice involving drugs and guns are part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Take Back America. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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