SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Three southwest Missouri residents are among five defendants indicted for their roles in a drug-trafficking conspiracy after federal agents seized 16 kilograms of cocaine while arresting two co-defendants in Texas. Mario Jose Castillo, 55, of Springfield, Mo.; Christhian Eduardo Cruz-Pineda, 22, a citizen of Honduras residing in...

SEATTLE – A fast moving investigation resulted in the seizure of a large amount of fentanyl and four federal arrests, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The investigation began in late March with undercover agents setting up initial drug deals. The case culminated with arrests and seizures on May 9...

SPRINGFIFELD, Mo. – Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin in Greene County, Mo. James D. Elbert, 42, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 10 years in federal prison without parole. On July 5, 2023...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – An inmate of the Lawton Correctional Facility in Oklahoma has been sentenced in federal court for leading a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Greene and Polk Counties while he was incarcerated. Joshua A. Ramirez, 39, who has no legal address, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge...

POCATELLO, Idaho – Larry James Little, 58, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced to 126 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, in August 2022, BADGES Task Force officers received reliable information that Little and his co-defendant...

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho – Quinn Michael Brockman, 34, of Libby, Montana, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, Brockman was pulled over in the Coeur d’Alene area while traveling through Idaho with...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Thursday sentenced a Poplar Bluff, Missouri, man to 10 years in prison for repeatedly selling methamphetamine and another two years for violating his supervised release for an earlier heroin distribution case. Joshua E. Forbes, 31, sold meth to...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who sold millions of counterfeit Xanax pills on the Darknet to two years in prison, fined him $10,000 and ordered him to forfeit nearly $1 million. Brandon Adams, 27, will also be on supervised release for...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, man has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine after law enforcement officers seized more than $1 million worth of cocaine from a rental truck that was stopped on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County, Mo. Luis Gerardo Nieto-Acosta...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a man from St. Louis County, Missouri, who sold drugs to a woman who later died, to seven years in prison. Donald Lawrence Bateman, 28, pleaded guilty in January to distribution of a controlled substance and possession with...