Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

INDIANAPOLIS- Harold Sanders, 34, of Indianapolis, Indiana, has been sentenced to 188 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a firearm.

According to court documents, on June 13, 2022, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) officers received a 9-1-1 phone call from Sanders’ girlfriend who was screaming for help as Sanders was assaulting her. During the phone call, Sanders was heard asking where his other pistol was and making verbal threats.

Officers responded to the residence and found the girlfriend with visible injuries. She told officers that Sanders had struck her in the head seven times with a firearm. A search of the residence yielded one loaded .380 caliber handgun under a bedroom mattress, and another one loaded 9mm handgun with an extended magazine inside the microwave. The girlfriend’s blood was found on the 9mm firearm.

Sanders is prohibited under federal law from ever possessing a firearm again because of his prior felony convictions for Assault by Means Likely to Cause Great Bodily Injury, Infliction of Corporal Injury on a Spouse, and First Degree Criminal Domestic Violence.

United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary A. Myers, Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Columbus Field Division, and IMPD Chief Randal Taylor made the announcement.

“Again and again, we see armed domestic abusers inflict injury and death on those closest to them,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers. “We must interrupt the cycle of violence through aggressive federal prosecution of the worst offenders, like the defendant here. Through our L.E.A.T.H. initiative, we will continue working alongside IMPD and ATF to protect victims by sending these dangerous offenders to federal prison, where they belong.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and IMPD investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Chief Judge, Tanya Walton Pratt. Judge Pratt also ordered that Sanders be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 5 years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorney Abhi Kambli, who prosecuted this case.

This case was brought as part of the LEATH Initiative (Law Enforcement Action to Halt Domestic Violence), named in honor of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Officer Breann Leath, who was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic disturbance call. A partnership among the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the IMPD, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the LEATH Initiative focuses federal, state, and local law enforcement resources on domestic violence offenders who illegally possess firearms.

This case is also 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.