Date: December 8, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov INDIANAPOLIS — In September of this year, 21 individuals were charged in a federal indictment alleging trafficking of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine; money laundering; illegally possessing firearms; and dog fighting. On December 6, 2023, execution of additional search warrants in Indianapolis and Anderson resulted in seven additional arrests related to the September indictment. Federal agents also seized 12 firearms; significant quantities of controlled substances; over $42,075 in cash; dog fighting paraphernalia; and approximately 75 dogs. The following Indianapolis/Anderson men were each charged with Conspiracy to engage in an Animal Fighting Venture: Ryan Hicks Willie Lee Marven Carswell Ernest Young Brent Hutchinson Robert Hamer Daymond Mason If convicted, each defendant charged with conspiracy to engage in an animal fighting venture faces up to 5 years in federal prison. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI), Federal Bureau of Investigation- Indianapolis, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Indiana Gaming Commission, and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department collaborated to make this investigation and the recent warrant executions possible. Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Michelle P. Brady and Adam J. Eakman, who are prosecuting this case. An indictment or criminal complaint are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
