Felon Sentenced to More Than a Decade in Federal Prison for Dealing Heroin While Discharging a Firearm

OKLAHOMA CITY – TIAHMO LENELL DRAINE, 47, of Oklahoma City, has been sentenced to 130 months in prison for possessing heroin with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.

In October 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Draine, and in January 2020 he was convicted after a federal jury trial.  During the trial, the government presented evidence that shortly after midnight, on July 3, 2019, a woman called 911.  The woman reported she has been chased by an individual driving a gray truck who had shot at her during an altercation that originated at a convenience store.  An Oklahoma City Police Officer responded and pursued the truck as it exited I-44, entered a residential neighborhood, and pulled into a yard.  The driver, Draine, exited the truck wearing a backpack.  He then hid out of view towards the front of the truck.  Draine returned, placed the backpack on the driver’s seat, and ultimately followed commands from the officer to walk towards him with his hands up.  After law enforcement detained Draine, they located a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol under the truck.  Inside the backpack, law enforcement found heroin, a digital scale, and drug ledgers.  An investigating officer returned to the convenience store where the incident originated and located a spent shell casing near the gas pumps.  A firearms examiner later determined the .40 caliber found in Draine’s possession fired the shell casing located near the gas pumps.

At a sentencing hearing earlier this week, Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot sentenced Draine to serve 130 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.  The sentence included 70 months on each of the heroine distribution and firearm possession counts to run concurrently, and 60 months for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime to run consecutively to the other two counts.  In announcing the sentence, Judge Friot took into account the nature and circumstances of the offense and Draine’s criminal history.  Public records reflect Draine held felony convictions for Assault and Battery with a Deadly Weapon With Intent to Kill and Domestic Assault and Battery when the incident occurred.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Assistant United States Attorney Ashley L. Altshuler prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiatives to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws.  The local implementation of these initiatives is through “Operation 922,” which prioritizes the prosecution of federal gun crimes in connection with domestic violence.