PLAINFIELD, Ind. (WXIN) — An assistant football coach for Plainfield High School was arrested on drug dealing charges and is accused of selling marijuana to students, according to court documents.
Marquis Feldman, age 22, was arrested Thursday on charges of dealing in marijuana greater than 30 grams but less than 10 pounds, unlawful carrying of a handgun, battery of a public safety official and resisting law enforcement.
A spokesperson for the Plainfield Community School Corporation said Feldman is no longer employed at the school.
Court documents state that an officer with the Plainfield Police Department began receiving complaints at the end of the 2021-2022 school year that a teacher or coach at PHS was either providing or selling drugs to students. The officer discovered that the teacher or coach was known as “Coach Keys” but did not know of a “Coach Keys” within the school corporation.
As time went on, the officer was able to confirm that “Coach Keys” referred to Feldman, who was an assistant football coach for PHS, per court documents. The officer claimed that Feldman told him during a conversation that he had a troubled past growing up in Long Island, New York and was part of the gang MS-13.
Marquis Feldman
The officer informed a PPD detective, who began to look into Feldman. The detective discovered that Feldman was stopped by a PPD officer in June of 2021, and police found “a significant amount of marijuana ‘shake’ around the driver’s seat and three (3) small buds of marijuana underneath the driver’s seat,” documents state. The officer destroyed the marijuana at the scene of the stop.
The detective also discovered that on June 3 of 2022, police were called to the 300 block of Country Lane. Feldman told police that his Taurus GX4 9mm handgun was stolen from his vehicle overnight. Documents state that the officer who who examined the vehicle noticed a strong odor of marijuana. An officer informed the detective that when he tried to discuss the stolen gun case with Feldman on July 18, Feldman refused to let him near his apartment and insisted on meeting at the road. He informed the detective that this gave him the impression Feldman was trying to hide something.
As the detective continued to research Feldman, he found that Feldman had an active protective order against him out of Suffolk County in New York that was issued in June of 2019. The order states that Feldman was to turn over all guns to authorities and is prohibited from obtaining any further firearms, per court documents.
On August 4, the detective requested a K9 officer from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to conduct a sniff of Feldman’s car and the front door to his apartment. During both sniffs, the K9 — named Maggie — indicated the presence of a narcotic odor, according to court records.
That same day, detective requested and obtained search warrants for Feldman’s car and apartment and served them with the help of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Drug Task Force. When Feldman opened the door, he stepped out of the apartment and pulled the door shut behind him. Police placed Feldman into handcuffs and ordered his girlfriend to leave the apartment, documents say.
An affidavit states that Feldman tried pulling away from officers and “was constantly yelling and causing a scene.” An officer tried to sit Feldman down in order to control him, but Feldman refused despite several commands. Documents describe a struggle between Feldman and police as officers tried to physically force Feldman to sit and he continued to resist.
“At this point multiple officers attempted to get Mr. Feldman to sit down and I placed my leg behind his legs in an attempt to get him to go to the ground at which point Mr. Feldman fell backwards on the ground and continued to fight against officers and kicked Detective Corporal Walker in the groin,” the detective explains in an affidavit.
Officers were able to pin Feldman to the ground, and once he calmed down, they allowed him to sit up, documents state. Authorities asked Feldman if he needed any medical treatment, to which he advised that he did not.
Inside Feldman’s apartment, police said they found marijuana on the kitchen counter, in a bed headboard, on top of a nightstand and in a nightstand drawer that totaled about 184 grams, or 6.5 ounces. Officers also found a digital scale and a fully-loaded Ruger LC9 9mm handgun that was sitting on top of the gun box for the gun that Feldman had reported stolen in June, per court documents.
In Feldman’s vehicle, police found another 5.2 grams of marijuana and a little over $100 in cash in the center console, documents state.
Feldman was taken to the Hendricks County Jail.
In a statement sent to parents, Superintendent Scott Olinger said:
“We are aware that Marquis Feldman, a former employee of Plainfield Community School Corporation, has been arrested by the Plainfield Police Department.
“As with all employees, this individual had an explained criminal history background check run prior to his employment in March of 2022. Once PCSC was made aware of the charges, Mr. Feldman’s employment was immediately terminated.
“We are cooperating with the Plainfield Police Department. However, because this is an active investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”