Muncie man found with more than 400 grams of meth draws 33-year federal prison sentence

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man determined to possess more than 400 grams of meth when police raided his eastside home in 2021 has been sentenced to 33 years in federal prison.

Joseph Dyden Haskins III, now 39, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge James P. Hanlon in Indianapolis.

In December, a federal court jury found Haskins guilty of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, carrying a sentence ranging from 10 years to life in prison.

When members of the Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force served a search warrant at Haskins' home along East Maple Manor Parkway in August 2021, they reported recovering 406 grams of meth.

Task force members said they had started an investigation after receiving a report that Haskins was selling meth at his home, where he lived with his mother and two children.

In addition to the meth, seized from a bedroom closet were two sets of digital scales, boxes of plastic bags, and a large bottle of Miralax, "commonly used as a cutting agent for dealing narcotics," according to an affidavit.

Also seized was more than $12,000 in cash, most of it found stuffed inside a teddy bear, federal prosecutors said after Haskins' conviction. The FBI was also involved in the investigation.

Evidence presented at his trial included text messages recovered from the Muncie man's cell phone that prosecutors said referred to drug transactions, and recordings from phone conversations in jail in which Haskins admitted to dealing drugs.

In a pre-sentence memorandum, prosecutors said Haskins "has spent the last 23 years committing numerous drug and violent crimes."

Court records reflect he had been convicted of crimes including dealing in cocaine or narcotic drug, possession of cocaine, battery, intimidation, and criminal recklessness.

Haskins still faces eight charges in three cases that have been pending in Delaware Circuit Court 5 since 2019: three counts of intimidation, two counts each of resisting law enforcement and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, and a single charge of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.

After completing his federal prison term, Haskins will be on supervised release for five years.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.