Atlanta - Dr. Joseph L. Burton, a former county medical examiner and forensic pathologist, has been indicted along with seven other individuals on charges of illegal distribution of opioid painkillers and other drugs as part of Operation (Strategically Combatting Opioids through Prosecution and Enforcement). Multiple individuals have also been arrested...

SEATTLE - Three Snohomish County residents were arrested on February 14, 2018, in connection with a two year investigation into a money laundering scheme tied to multiple drug trafficking organizations. Maria Angelica Maldonado, 55 and her husband Ismael Garcia SR, 49, were arrested at their Marysville home. Anthony Bustos, 20...

SEATTLE - Three Seattle men are in custody, and two are being sought by law enforcement in connection with a 6-month investigation by the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and the Seattle Police Department of significant drug trafficking in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood. Patrick Tables, 53 and Michael Turner, 49, were taken...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Today, Wilton Eugene Toney, 62, and Denita Ann Love, a/k/a Denita Ann Solitaire, 58, both of Anchorage, Alaska, were named in a federal indictment charging them with drug conspiracy. According to the charging documents, on Jan. 12, 2018, law enforcement officers seized two FedEx parcels located at...

SEATTLE - Three key players in a drug distribution ring that spanned seven counties in Washington State were sentenced late Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to long prison terms. The leader of the drug distribution ring Baltazar Reyes-Garcia 45, of Camano Island, WA, was sentenced to 18 years...

SPOKANE, Wash. - On December 13, 2017, the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and (ATF) led a large scale enforcement action targeting a criminal organization distributing methamphetamine in the Eastern District of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Hundreds of law enforcement officials, including federal agents and state...

BOISE, Idaho - Dr. Rafael Beier, 63, of Kingston, Idaho, was sentenced on November 30, 2017, to 192 months in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for unlawfully distributing oxycodone and hydrocodone. Senior U.S.District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Beier to pay a $63,000 fine and...

SEATTLE - Former Seattle police officer pleaded guilty today for his role in the smuggling of hundreds of pounds of marijuana from the Seattle area to Baltimore, Maryland. Alex Chapackdee, 44, of Seattle, was a 16-year veteran of the Seattle Police (SPD), who resigned shortly after his arrest in May...

MEDFORD, Ore. - On Thursday, November 16, 2017, United States District Judge Michael J. McShane sentenced Brian Keith Sunkenberg, 53, to 45 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to endangering human life by manufacturing marijuana in the form of hash oil. Judge McShane ordered Sunkenberg to pay $27,671 in...

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolinians participating in the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA’s) fourteenth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day (NTBI) held on Saturday, October 28, 2017, turned in 9,032 pounds of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at sites set up throughout the state. This was the...