Commissary for Coke/Fetty: Second inmate convicted in jail overdose death

FORT WAYNE, Ind. --The importance of the jail commissary can’t be stressed enough. There are as many reports of inmates being hungry as those needing a blanket.

It’s no wonder a barter system has developed within the confines of cell blocks where, yes, there are the haves and the have-nots. It can be a pleasant business deal or a horror.

Drugs were the barter chips in February 2024 when a couple of now convicted drug dealers - Brian L. Boggs II and Taylor Hunt - “sold” a deadly dose of fentanyl for six bags of chips and six cups of noodles.

Taylor D. Hunt

Their client, Steven Perry, died of an overdose. Both were charged with Felony 1 dealing a controlled substance resulting in death and possession of cocaine or a narcotic drug (fentanyl). Boggs took a plea deal in January.

Tuesday (March 25) Hunt decided to chuck the idea of facing a jury and tried his luck with a bench trial.

Death has no mercy and neither did Judge Steven Godfrey of Allen Superior Court who found him guilty.

The evidence that compromised both of these cellmates was surveillance video inside Block 6C. Indiana State Police Detective Clint Hetrick and Detective Nicholas Keefer with the Allen County Sheriff's Office watched as Perry looked absolutely normal February 26 as he cleaned up the dayroom after dinner.

Then, surveillance showed him start to wobble and become unsteady walking around the dayroom. In and out of his cell, he entered it for one last time. Hunt and Boggs repeatedly checked on him. Other inmates ultimately alerted the jail guard when they found him unresponsive, court documents said.

Perry was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Detectives secured Perry’s cell - 6301 - and 6302 next door, the cell for Boggs and Hunt. Inmates told the detectives that the two sold Perry the drugs in exchange for his commissary, court documents said.

On Feb. 26, the day Perry died, detectives witnessed on video when Perry received his food from commissary and turned it over to Hunt.

Further investigation showed Boggs went through the body scan at intake with an unidentified mass in his groin area that somehow got missed. 

Boggs and Hunt were removed to other cell blocks. On Feb. 28, Boggs’ new cell mate on A block then overdosed, but recovered.

The cell mate told detectives that he got his drugs from Boggs and that he thought he was getting cocaine. But it was fentanyl, court documents said.

Turned out that Boggs was loaded with drugs, not just the baggie investigators spied in his groin. Keefer found an oatmeal cream pie with a small tear in the packaging. When the cream pie was opened all the way, a plastic baggie with white powder fell out. It tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine. 

Boggs also had a clear plastic bag with the same drugs hidden in an old bandage on his leg, found when he went to jail nursing to change the bandage. 

According to court docs, Boggs will be sentenced May 6, probably in exchange for his testimony this week during Hunt’s trial. Sentencing for Hunt has yet to be set. A Felony 1 carries a potential sentence of between 20 to 40 years with an advisory sentence of 30 years, according to Indiana code.