SOUTH BEND – Joseph Blair, Jr., 30 years old, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to armed drug trafficking and being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.
Blair was sentenced to 106 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.
According to documents in this case, in December of 2020, law enforcement searched Blair’s home and recovered over 150 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded handgun. A search of his car resulted in the recovery of over 200 grams of methamphetamine, two rifles, and a magazine for a high capacity rifle.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with the assistance of the South Bend Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Gabrielse.
This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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