NEWPORT NEWS, Va., – The ringleader behind an extensive drug trafficking ring was sentenced today to 33 years in prison for distributing large amounts of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in Newport News and North Carolina. According to court documents, Ramiro Ramirez-Barreto, 44, from the Mexican State of Morelos, operated a...

ROME, Ga. - Shane Terhune, who sold heroin to a young couple just hours before the woman’s July 2018 overdose death, pleaded guilty to a charge of distributing that heroin, and admitted to causing the victim’s death. “The life of a young lady abruptly ended when Shane Terhune provided her...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal jury convicted a Havelock man yesterday on charges of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin, four counts of distributing heroin and aiding and abetting, and one count of possessing with intent to distribute more than a...

SAVANNAH, GA: More than a dozen defendants are charged in a major drug-trafficking conspiracy alleged in a 22-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Georgia. Operation Snowplow II follows a series of indictments starting in June 2018 of 14 defendants in Operation Snowplow, an Organized...

Baltimore, MD – Joel William Hammond, age 35, of Essex, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 28 grams of cocaine base. The guilty plea was announced by Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Washington Division; Jonathan F...

BALTIMORE, Md., – Joel William Hammond, age 35, of Essex, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 28 grams of cocaine base. The guilty plea was announced by Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Washington Field Division; Jonathan...

Washington, D.C. – Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA Washington Division, is alerting all area residents to an increase in drug overdose deaths tied to counterfeit pills containing the powerful synthetic opioid, fentanyl. Manufactured by Mexican drug trafficking organizations, and marketed as a medication such as...

Baltimore, MD –Ronald Alexander, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and powder and crack cocaine. While participating in a narcotics conspiracy, Alexander was employed by “Safe Streets,” an organization working to reduce violence and crime in Baltimore through intervention. While he was engaged in the...

ABINGDON, Va. – A Miami, Florida man pleaded guilty last week to conspiring with a Bristol, Tennessee man to pay and receive kickbacks. According to court documents, Michael Olshavsky, 51, of Miami, Florida, and John Paul Linke, 57, of Bristol, Tenn., conspired to receive and pay kickbacks to encourage urine...

Baltimore, MD – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III, sentenced Robert Bascom, age 48, of Baltimore, Maryland to eight years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams of heroin. The sentence was announced...