CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Aleef Jamar Nicks, 39, of Charlotte, to 108 months in prison yesterday, on drug trafficking and firearm charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Bell also ordered Nicks to serve three years under...

MACON, GA - Twelve defendants have been charged in a newly unsealed federal indictment alleging a middle Georgia drug trafficking conspiracy. Eight men and four women are charged as part of Operation Breaking the Bond, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation centered in the Bibb County area, said...

BRUNSWICK, GA - A Charlton County man who admitted trafficking methamphetamine in south Georgia has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison. Phillip Yarbrough, 39, of Folkston, Ga., was sentenced to 264 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood after pleading guilty to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With opioid overdose deaths increasing during the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced its 20th Take Back Day scheduled for April 24. At its last Take Back Day in October, DEA collected a record-high amount of expired, unused prescription medications, with the public turning in close to...

ATHENS, Ga. – An inmate in the Georgia Department of Corrections system has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from prison, said Peter D. Leary, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. Frankie Baza, 33, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count conspiracy to...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced Jose Flores Romero, 29, of Mexico, to 87 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on drug trafficking charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to filed court documents...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration launched a comprehensive law enforcement and prevention support initiative aimed at reducing drug use, abuse, and overdose deaths. “Operation Engage” allows participating field divisions to focus on the biggest drug threat in their respective geographic areas. The initiative builds on...

BRUNSWICK, GA - An Atlanta man born and raised in Savannah who led a drug trafficking organization that transported and distributed cocaine and other drugs into the coastal Georgia area has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Omar Griffin, 41, of Atlanta, was sentenced to 240 months in...

SAVANNAH, GA - Ten people have been charged in a federal indictment alleging a conspiracy to obtain and sell large amounts of opioids through fraudulent prescriptions. The indictment charges eight men and two women with taking part in a scheme to use forged and fraudulent prescriptions to obtain large amounts...

SAVANNAH, GA - A Garden City, Ga., clinic owner and CEO has been indicted for operating a clinic that provided a base from which a notorious “pill mill” doctor dispensed massive amounts of controlled substances. In a five-count indictment returned by a U.S. District Court grand jury, Jamesetta Whipple-Duncan, 58...