The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Orleans Field Division is issuing an urgent public safety advisory to residents across the Northshore, specifically St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington Parishes, warning of a deadly group of synthetic opioids known as nitazenes following a recent surge in fatal overdoses. Forensic analysis and recent...

OXFORD – U.S. Attorney Scott Leary presented three awards for investigative excellence to investigators relating to their work on a Homeland Security Task Force drug trafficking prosecution: • Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Josh Moore; • DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant/DEA Task Force Officer Josh Bryant; and • Hernando...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Birmingham Police Department along with federal law enforcement partners highlighted their strong and ongoing partnership during a press conference focused on their coordinated efforts to make Birmingham safer. “This is the ultimate good news story! When we stand together, we...

MONROE, La. – On August 11, 2026, a federal jury found Donald Kelly, 44, of West Monroe, guilty of Distribution of Methamphetamine; Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine; Possession of Firearms by a Prohibited Person; and Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime after a two-day trial...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Ahead of National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day on Friday, August 21, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is raising awareness about the dangers of illicit fentanyl and inviting the public to join “A Conversation on Fentanyl: Awareness, Prevention, and Public Health.” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson will host the...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Two fentanyl and methamphetamine traffickers were sentenced to prison yesterday, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Jason Mills, 47, of Hendersonville, N.C., was sentenced to 135 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Mills pleaded guilty to distribution...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A previously convicted felon was sentenced to prison yesterday for distributing fentanyl, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Sadiq Mafia Devoe Jones, 24, of Asheville, was sentenced to 135 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Jones’s 10-year...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A North Carolina physician has been sentenced to prison for conspiring to allow his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration number to be used for thousands of unlawful buprenorphine prescriptions, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Pearish Pierre Pretty, 43, of Columbia, has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Evidence obtained in...

ATLANTA - Walter Lee Muhammad, a multi-convicted drug trafficker whose 2020 sentence for fentanyl trafficking was commuted by former President Joe Biden in December 2024, appeared in federal court today on a new fentanyl-trafficking charge filed in the Northern District of Georgia. “Muhammad is a serial drug trafficker who –...