INDIANAPOLIS — The Drug Enforcement Agency arrested a man for allegedly dealing drugs that resulted in death without there being a toxicology report. It's believed to be one of the first cases without that report.
The news came to Brennan Krug's parents exactly one year after they found their son unconscious at home.
"Brennan was a really nice kind-hearted young man. A friend of mine said he was soulful," said Michael Krug. "He was a good hearted person. He just loved life and loved his nephews and animals."
His father, Michael Krug, said Brennan was in the hospital for 15 days before passing away.
Court records released on Monday state Brennan bought some pills from a known teenager and alleged dealer, Hugo Saak.
The DEA and IMPD arrested the teenager and charged Saak with dealing resulting in death.
Investigators believe Brennan was poisoned with Fentanyl.
Police and DEA investigators used text messages between the victim and suspect to help solve the case.
"We were partnered up with IMPD in this investigation and what's so compelling about this case, it was closed. We were asked to take a look at it and we did. It was very challenging. This is probably one of the first cases that I've seen where there wasn't a positive toxicology report for Fentanyl intoxication and when you don't have that it makes it a challenging in a case. Through great investigative work, we found there was a Fentanyl ingestion which led to an overdose," said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Michael Gannon.
Gannon said usually Dealing Resulting in Death cases need a toxicology report pointing to Fentanyl, but investigators are using other tactics to crack down on the growing number of overdose death investigations across Indiana.
"And what's so hard for me to see is just dealing with the parents that lose a loved one or a family member that loses a loved one. It makes us want to go out and work even harder in our cases," said Gannon.
A law passed in 2018 made Dealing Resulting in Death cases possible. So far, The Marion County Prosecutor's Office said there have been less than a dozen convictions in cases filed since then. It's just a small number compared to the amount of deaths.
"Here in Marion County for 2022, we had 852 overdose deaths, of that number 641 were Fentanyl Opioid related," Gannon said.
Krug encourages people to have sympathy and also educate children and loved ones about Fentanyl.
"We all need to be so much more aware of the proliferation of these illicit drugs coming into country neighborhoods and homes sometimes and we need to start a better dialogue and remove the stigma. Any of these people are truly victims of this Fentanyl crisis. The victims are stereo typically viewed as drug users and it's wrong because most of them it's a one time thing or dabble here or something and they are being poisoned. They aren't intentionally obtaining something that has Fentanyl. It looks real, looks legit and they are being fooled and most people, they are getting them from people they trust," said Krug.
It's a message the DEA also stresses.
"We need more Hoosiers now than ever, to follow that slogan because we need people that have things going good in their life, that can be a pillar of strength to help people that may need it. Because it's very important," said Gannon.
The suspect in this case is being held on a $100,000 cash bond and a $50,000 surety bond.
He's due in court for an initial hearing later this week.
