Last Updated on October 7, 2019 by cassnetwork
Lisa Swaim, the Cass County Prosecuting Attorney, announced that Curtis Carter, 27, of Chicago, Illinois, was found guilty after a jury trial of Dealing in a Narcotic Drug (Heroin), Dealing in Cocaine, Possession of a Narcotic Drug (Heroin) and Possession of Cocaine, and was sentenced in Cass Superior Court 2 by Judge Thomas Perrone to thirty years in the Indiana Department of Correction. Deputy Prosecutor Tom Lupke handled the case.
The charge stemmed from an investigation by the Cass County Drug Task Force. On March 5, 2018, during the course of an ongoing investigation, local drug task force officers seized approximately seventy-two grams of heroin as well as just over five grams of cocaine, which Carter possessed with the intent to deliver. Carter was in a vehicle stopped by law enforcement which was being driven by Darrell Cortez Williams-Wright, 25, of Lansing, Illinois. Williams-Wright drove off at a high rate of speed, at times exceeding 100 miles per hour, initiating a vehicle pursuit by law enforcement on Cass County roads.
During the pursuit, Williams-Wright drove into high water due to flooding on County Road 200 North just east of US 35. As the vehicle entered the water, Deputy Ryan Preston observed Williams-Wright fling an unknown item from the vehicle which was recovered suspended from the top of a barbed wire fence just below the water line. The contents of the item were later determined to be individual packages of heroin and cocaine.
Carter had multiple prior felony convictions, including a previous conviction for Possession with Intent to Deal Cocaine in Racine, Wisconsin in 2012, as well as a prior conviction for Unlawful Posession of Weapon by Felon in Cook County, Illinois in 2014.
Williams-Wright was previously sentenced on the same facts on June 18, 2019 in Cass Superior Court 2. He was found guilty after a jury trial of Dealing in a Narcotic Drug (Heroin), Dealing in Cocaine, Possession of Cocaine as well as Resisting Law Enforcement and Obstruction of Justice, and was sentenced in Cass Superiour Court 2 by Judge Rick Maughmer to 36 years in the Indiana Department of Correction. Deputy Prosecutor Lupke handled that case as well.
Prosecutor Lisa Swaim commented after the sentencing: “We appreciate the hard work and cooperation of the Logansport Police Department and the Cass County Sheriff’s Department in the local joint task force. The sentences reflect the impact of the defendant’s actions on the community, the dangers posed by their drug dealing and flight from authorities in a vehicle, as well as their prior criminal histories. Both heroin and cocaine are extremely dangerous and addictive drugs. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold drug dealers accountable.”
SOURCE: News release from Cass County Prosecutor’s Office