ST. LOUIS – A man was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday on fentanyl distribution charges. The indictment accuses Alejandro Chacon-Martinez, 20, of possession with the intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing fentanyl on July 17. A criminal complaint filed July 18 says Chacon-Martinez was...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Court Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Friday sentenced a man from St. Louis who injured two deputy U.S. marshals, one permanently, during his arrest to 27 years in prison. Emilio Justin Sandoval, now 34, had been indicted on felony methamphetamine charges in 2021 and the...

EUGENE, Ore.—A Gresham, Oregon man with a lengthy criminal history was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on July 11, 2023, after he was arrested transporting methamphetamine in Deschutes County. Dennis Richard DeChenne Jr., 39, was sentenced to 130 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release...

SEATTLE – A Seattle man, involved with firearms and fentanyl, pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle to federal charges that carry a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Lavonta Austin, 30, will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge...

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Matthew James Holmberg, 20, of Spokane Valley, Washington, was sentenced on July 19, 2023, to 19 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court records, Holmberg was involved...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Nineteen members of a Charleston, Missouri-based drug trafficking organization accused of being the main supplier of methamphetamine and fentanyl to southeast Missouri have been indicted on a felony drug conspiracy charge, U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming announced Friday. Arrests by federal, state and local law enforcement...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Huntington Park, Calif., man was found guilty at trial today of possessing approximately 2.6 pounds of cocaine, which he carried hidden in a suitcase while traveling by bus through Kansas City, Mo. Alan E. Sanchez, 29, was found guilty of one count of possessing cocaine...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Sacramento, California, man was sentenced in federal court today for mailing packages of methamphetamine to southwest Missouri as part of a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper and Newton counties. John Gabriel Martinez, 39, was sentenced to 12 years and eight months in federal prison without...

BENTON, Ill. – A U.S. District judge sentenced the final defendant of five total co-conspirators for his involvement in a large-scale methamphetamine operation in southern Illinois. Robert Smith, 42, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison. Smith pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Six southern Missouri residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine as well as illegally possessing firearms. Robert Jason Smith, 47, Terry M. Schenks, 53, Randy L. Johns, 45, and Jill M. Matthews, 45, all of Ozark...