Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

INDIANAPOLIS – Dariel Hill, 57, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, on October 3, 2020, an officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) was flagged down by a witness near the area of East Michigan Street and North Sherman Drive in Indianapolis. The witness told the officer that there was a male, later identified as Hill, running down East Michigan Street firing gunshots at vehicles. 

The officer investigated and located Hill walking along East Michigan Street holding a black handgun. The officer exited his patrol car and ordered Hill to drop the handgun. Hill complied by throwing the gun in some nearby bushes. Once Hill was detained, the officer located a black .40 caliber Glock handgun in the bushes where Hill had tossed it.

The Glock was stolen. Upon further investigation, additional responding IMPD officers found several spent .40 caliber shell casings in the vicinity. The casings were located over a five-block, densely populated residential area. The casings were later determined to come from shots fired by Hill’s gun. Following these events, Hill was placed under arrest. Hill has twenty-four prior felony convictions, dating back to 1983. As a result of his criminal record, Hill knew he was prohibited from legally possessing a firearm. 

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

ATF and IMPD investigated the case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker following the defendant’s guilty plea. As part of the sentence, Judge Barker ordered that Hill be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jayson McGrath who prosecuted this case.

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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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