WASHINGTON - McKesson (McKesson), one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, agreed to pay a record $150 million civil penalty for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances (CSA), the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) announced today. The nationwide settlement requires McKesson to suspend sales of controlled substances from distribution...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three defendants were sentenced to federal prison last week for drug trafficking, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Matthew Barden and Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Santiago (aka Chuco), age 47, of Commerce, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 151...

WASHINGTON - At the invitation of the China Ministry of Public (MPS), the Drug Enforcement (DEA) Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg visited China this week to discuss issues of mutual concern and to build on DEA’s existing relationship with Chinese counter-narcotics law enforcement authorities. Rosenberg emphasized the increased cooperation between the...

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announces that the federal grand jury in Greenville returned a 31 count indictment charging physician Sanjay Kumar, 50, of New Bern, with Conspiracy to Unlawfully Dispense and Distribute Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Hydromorphone, and Alprazolam; Distribution of...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - On Jan. 12, 2017, James Hedelsky, 59, of Bartow County, Ga, was sentenced to serve life in prison by the Honorable Travis R. McDonough, U.S. District Judge. Following a September 2016 jury trial, Hedelsky was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute...

WASHINGTON - DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg today announced results from the 2016 National Drug Threat (NDTA), which details the extent to which illicit drugs are affecting the United States. Most notably, the 2016 NDTA continues to illuminate the nationwide opioid epidemic, which is fueling a growing heroin user population...

WASHINGTON - ‘Tis the season for giving! Today, 20 creative teams across the nation found out they are winners of $1,000 each from the National Family Partnership and the Drug Enforcement Administration as part of the National Red Ribbon Week Photo Contest. The 10 winning families who decorated their homes...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Curtis Allen Coleman, 41, of Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced to serve 144 months in prison by the Honorable Travis R. McDonough, United States District Judge. Coleman pleaded guilty in August 2016 to a federal indictment charging him with, among other things, Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin. The indictment...

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Six members of a marijuana distribution and money laundering organization that operated in Alamance, Guilford, and Wake Counties were sentenced on drug trafficking and money laundering charges, announced Ripley Rand, United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina. As of November 28, 2016, five defendants...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - United States Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose announced that five individuals are facing federal charges for their involvement in a heroin trafficking ring operating in Mecklenburg County. A criminal indictment was returned on November 15, 2016, and was unsealed today in federal court, following the defendants’ arrests. Eleven...