Man convicted in connection with fatal overdose in July 2020

INDIANAPOLIS – A man who sold the drugs that led to the overdose death of another man was sentenced this week.

Hunter McSwain pleaded guilty in June to reckless homicide and trafficking in a controlled substance. Prosecutors dropped the most serious charge against him, trafficking in a controlled substance resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, as part of the plea agreement.

On Monday, a Marion County judge sentenced McSwain to a total of 12 years, six years on each count, to be served consecutively. It was the maximum allowed under the plea agreement.

McSwain sold drugs to Nathan May, who was found dead in a car on the south side of the street in July 2020. McSwain had given May fentanyl in exchange for Xanax.

The case was the subject of a February 2022 FOX59 investigation into an Indiana law that punishes drug dealers with up to 40 years in prison for a fatal overdose.

In November 2021, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office reported that the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department had conducted a thorough investigation into the case and concluded that the evidence did not support criminal charges.

But after the February 2022 report, the Drug Enforcement Administration decided to investigate the case further and examine information May’s family had gathered.

The information included a recorded phone conversation between May’s girlfriend and McSwain’s girlfriend. In the conversation, McSwain’s girlfriend talked about the transaction and how she and McSwain met May in a parking lot for the exchange.

May was found dead the next morning.

The evidence prompted the IMPD and the District Attorney’s Office to reinvestigate the case with assistance from the DEA.

McSwain was also arrested on drug charges in Brown County in September 2021. Detectives retrieved information from his phone and discovered messages in which McSwain discussed May’s death with another person.

“Barely gave him ANYTHING MAN!!” McSwain wrote during the exchange. “The amount I gave (him) was like 8 grains of salt.”

During a later conversation, McSwain said he had warned May about the dangers of fentanyl.

“I told him (it was dangerous). But also consider the fact that the source is Nathan, the nicest guy I’ve ever met and also gullible. I just felt bad,” McSwain wrote.

McSwain was eventually charged by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office with drug trafficking resulting in death, reckless manslaughter, and drug trafficking.