SAVANNAH, GA -- 17 additional defendants indicted on drug trafficking and firearms charges as part of Operation Vanilla Gorilla have pled guilty in federal court, bringing to 33 the total number of guilty pleas only months after charges were filed. Operation Vanilla Gorilla, an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug...

AUGUSTA, GA -- A Waynesboro pharmacist is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to illegally obtaining opioids for his own use. Wilton Clinton “Clint” Meeks III, 55, of Waynesboro, Ga., pled guilty on Tuesday, March 19, 2019, to acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, deception, or subterfuge, said Bobby L. Christine...

SAVANNAH, Ga: Two people are facing substantial prison sentences and fines after pleading guilty to federal heroin trafficking charges. Gary Johnson , a/k/a “G,” 44, and Jamison Lanier , a/k/a “Monica Lewinsky,” 36, both of Savannah, have each pled guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and Conspiracy...

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A multi-agency operation in the Southern District of Georgia is receiving national recognition for dismantling a major drug trafficking organization whose methods included delivering contraband to prisons with drones and using funding from a lottery winner. The Southern District’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force received the...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Linda Liceth Prada-Ardilla, 29, a Colombian national residing in Asheville, N.C., to 135 months in prison and five years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced United States Drug Enforcement Administration Atlanta Field Division Special Agent...

HOUSTON – A total of 47 people are now in custody following the return of a 43-count indictment alleging drug-trafficking and related crimes in the Houston and Galveston areas. The case will be prosecuted in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas. DEA Houston Division Special Agent in...

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Sixteen of the defendants indicted on drug trafficking and firearms charges as part of Operation Vanilla Gorilla have pled guilty in federal court, including the lead defendant in the gang. Operation Vanilla Gorilla targeted the notorious Ghost Face Gangsters, a violent criminal street gang largely operated from...

SAVANNAH, Ga. – A physician with clinics in Pooler, Ga., and Braselton, Ga., has been indicted for illegally prescribing drugs to non-patients and ordered held in custody pending trial in federal court. Dr. Johnny Di Blasi , 46, of Braselton, Ga., is named in a nine-count indictment for conspiracy to...

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Three people, including two medical professionals, are among defendants recently prosecuted in federal court as part of continued efforts to crack down on opioid abuse. Lisa Marie Douthit, 42, a pharmacy technician at a Walgreen’s in Bryan County, was sentenced to three months in prison by U.S...

SAN ANTONIO – DEA Houston Division Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy, FBI San Antonio Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, and United States Attorney John F. Bash announced the arrest of Albert DeLeon for his alleged role in threatening to harm a government informant. A federal grand...