Convicted drug dealer in southern Indiana sentenced to prison

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Before he was booked into the Floyd County Jail, prosecutors said police found enough fentanyl to take out 14% of the county's population on a now convicted drug dealer.

Erratic driving ended up leading to Shannon Houchin's arrest. According to court records, someone called police concerned about reckless driving in Floyds Knobs in April 2022. The caller was worried the driver was impaired, and said someone was driving erratically on Highway 150.

Later that night, an officer spotted the car and pulled it over. The officer saw drug paraphernalia when he walked up to the car. Houchin was the passenger, and police said they found three bags of drugs on him. When he got to the jail, officers there found another bag of drugs on him.

According to the DEA, two milligrams of fentanyl can be deadly. Prosecutors said Houchin had 23 grams of fentanyl on him, which is nearly 12,000 lethal doses.

Floyd County Prosecutor Chris Lane said Houchin put himself, officers, and anyone he came into contact with at risk.

"If you risk over 11,000 people, they should go to jail for a long time, and we're proud to do that because they're addicting people out in our streets, and they're gonna bring more drugs into our community and that's unacceptable," Lane said.

Houchin was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He will have to spend 25 of those years in prison.

The driver of the vehicle Houchin was found in, Christopher Fleenor, is also facing drug charges.