Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

INDIANAPOLIS – Jerry Poindexter, 27, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 85 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, on August 31, 2021, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) responded to a report of a personal injury accident on West Morris Street, in Indianapolis. Officers found Poindexter in the driver’s seat of his vehicle unconscious and slumped over the center console. The vehicle was stopped and still idling. An officer saw a black extended handgun magazine sticking out of Poindexter’s front right side that he believed was inserted into a handgun.

The officer also saw that vehicle was locked, still in drive and was being held in place by bushes or shrubbery. The officer tried several times to wake Poindexter but was unsuccessful, forcing the officer to break out the driver’s side window, to secure the vehicle. When officers opened the door and pulled Poindexter out of the vehicle, they found a handgun with an extended magazine in Poindexter’s right front waistband. The firearm was identified as a SCCY, model CPX-1, 9mm Luger, semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine.

Poindexter regained consciousness after being treated by medics and initially provided officers with a false name. Once officers were able to positively identify Poindexter, they learned he had several warrants for his arrest. Poindexter was transported to the hospital for treatment and while enroute informed the medics that he had taken Xanax. Officers searched the front passenger seat of Poindexter’s vehicle and found a small baggie of suspected heroin. Poindexter was later arrested.

Poindexter has four previous state court felony convictions, including, dealing methamphetamine and marijuana, criminal recklessness, and forgery. Poindexter is prohibited from possessing firearms because of these prior felony convictions.

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

ATF investigated the case in conjunction with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II. As part of the sentence, Judge Sweeney ordered that Poindexter be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter A. Blackett 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 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.