INDIANAPOLIS – A man who sold the drugs that led to another man’s death in an overdose learned his sentence this week.
Hunter McSwain pleaded guilty in June to reckless homicide and dealing in a narcotic drug. Prosecutors dropped the most serious charge against him—dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, a Level 1 felony—as part of the plea deal.
On Monday, a Marion County judge sentenced McSwain to a total of 12 years—6 years on each count, to be served consecutively. It was the maximum allowed under the plea deal.
McSwain sold drugs to Nathan May, who was found dead inside a car on the south side in July 2020. McSwain had given May fentanyl in exchange for Xanax.
The case was the subject of a February 2022 FOX59 investigation examining an Indiana law that punishes drug dealers with up to 40 years in prison following a deadly overdose.
In November 2021, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department thoroughly investigated the case and determined the evidence didn’t support criminal charges.
But after the February 2022 report, the Drug Enforcement Administration decided to take a closer look at the case and examined information May’s family had compiled.
The information included a recorded phone call involving May’s girlfriend and McSwain’s girlfriend. In the call, McSwain’s girlfriend recounted 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 led IMPD and the prosecutor’s office to reexamine the case with help from the DEA.
McSwain had also been arrested on drug charges in Brown County in September 2021. Investigators extracted information from his phone and uncovered messages in which McSwain discussed May’s death with another individual.
“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’d warned May about the dangers of fentanyl.
“I told him [it was dangerous]. But also consider the fact, the source it’s Nathan, nicest kid I’ve ever met and gullible too. I just felt bad,” McSwain wrote.
Ultimately, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office charged McSwain with dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, reckless homicide and dealing in a narcotic drug.
