(South Bend, IN) - A Michigan City man has been sentenced in federal court for dealing drugs.
35-year-old Charles Pheal, Jr. pled guilty to distributing 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. According to federal prosecutors, Pheal sold 100 meth pills, while on probation for various offences including burglary, domestic violence, and carrying a gun without a license.
In a statement, United States Attorney Adam L. Mildred outlined Pheal’s history of offenses:
“The Defendant sold 100 methamphetamine pills while on probation for burglary of a dwelling and domestic battery where he kicked open a door of a residence and slapped a mother in the presence of three minor children. His criminal history also includes a misdemeanor domestic battery conviction where he broke into a residence through the window of a child’s bedroom and struck the child’s mother causing swelling to her left eye and scratches on her hands and knuckles. He was sentenced for that misdemeanor domestic battery on the same day that he was sentenced in a different case for carrying a handgun without a license. The criminal justice system’s efforts at the Defendant’s rehabilitation have failed because he chose to continue his career of antisocial behavior by peddling poison in our community,”
Pheal was sentenced to five years in prison followed by four years of supervised release by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty.
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chip Cooke added that authorities will continue working to lock up drug dealers, especially violent ones. “Mr. Pheal’s actions are yet another example of the cruelty of drug traffickers. They always lie,” Cooke added. “The Drug Enforcement Administration and the LaPorte County Drug Task Force, along with their prosecution partners, will continue to collaborate to bring drug dealers to justice and to keep the Hoosiers of northern Indiana safe. Northern Indiana is not where drug dealers should want to do their evil work. Mr. Pheal is realizing that now.”
