South Bend Man Sentenced to 180 Months in Prison For Controlled Substance Offense

SOUTH BEND – Keith Jennings, 51 years old, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. Jennings was sentenced to 180 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release. “A drug dealer meant to profit from unleashing nearly 5 pounds of methamphetamine into our community, but a drug canine ruined his plans. On September 15, 2025, law enforcement performed a traffic stop on a truck Keith Jennings was driving. During the stop, a drug K9 alerted on the vehicle. Officers searched the truck and found approximately 2,128.5 grams of methamphetamine in the backseat area. Thanks to the collaboration of the Drug Enforcement Administration, including the DEA Merrillville District Office, DEA Chicago Special Response Team, DEA Detroit Special Response Team, DEA St. Louis Special Response Team, and DEA North Central Laboratory; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the United States Postal Inspection Service; the Indiana State Police; the South Bend Police Department; St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office; Mishawaka Police Department; the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office led by Ken Cotter; and Assistant United States Attorneys Lydia T. Lucius and Joel Gabrielse, the Defendant has been sent to prison for fifteen years, the drugs have been intercepted, and our state and nation is safer,” said U.S. Attorney Adam L. Mildred. “A nearly five-pound seizure of methamphetamine is more than just a statistic; it represents thousands of potential deadly doses that will not make it onto the streets of north central Indiana. The arrest and prosecution of Mr. Jennings highlight the strength of our law enforcement partnerships and the resolve we share in confronting those who traffic dangerous drugs into our communities. The Drug Enforcement Administration and its partners are committed to identifying drug traffickers, disrupting their operations, and holding them accountable,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chip Cooke. This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Indianapolis comprises agents and officers from FBI, HSI, DEA, ATF, IRS, Indiana State Police, and other partners, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana. 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.