ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested an Anchorage nurse practitioner and a Soldotna doctor on separate federal narcotics charges, which allege that they illegally distributed large amounts of opioids and other powerful narcotics by writing prescriptions for "patients" without medical examinations and lacking medical necessity...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Michael Joseph Nicholson, 36, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced on Oct. 8, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess, to 10 years in prison, to be followed by a 5-year term of supervised release, for his role in a drug and money laundering conspiracy that...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Hampton man was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for distributing cocaine and heroin while possessing a firearm. According to court documents, Lorenzo Golden, 35, admitted that he had agreed to distribute and distributed more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than a...

ROANOKE, Va. – On Monday, Sept. 23, 2019, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrived at a property owned by Dr. Vincent K. Jones to execute a federal arrest warrant. Upon arrival, agents found Dr. Jones unresponsive and acted promptly to administer emergency, life-saving care and additionally called for medical...

WASHINGTON -- The DEA and the Washington Redskins announced today that they will team up to spread awareness about the ongoing opioid epidemic through a new campaign. This campaign will include public service announcements throughout the month of October and culminate in an epic game-day sponsored event during the October...

ABINGDON, Va. – Joel Smithers, 36, a Martinsville-based doctor, was sentenced Oct. 2, 2019 to 40 years in federal prison and sentenced to pay a special assessment of $86,000, on 861 federal drug charges in U.S. District Court in Abingdon. Smithers was found to have prescribed more than half a...

NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia Beach dentist was sentenced today to eight and a half years in prison for conspiracy to distribute prescription opioids and muscle relaxant pills without a legitimate medical purpose. According to court documents, Gary Hartman, 48, was involved in an elaborate scheme to prescribe opioids such...

BALTIMORE – A federal jury convicted Paul Alexander, a/k/a David Paul Hayes and "Shorty," age 47, of Hanover, Maryland, on five federal charges including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substances—specifically fentanyl, possession of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former pharmacy owner was sentenced today to four years in prison for fraudulently filling and dispensing thousands of prescription medications, including opioids, outside the usual course of professional practice. Latif Mohamed Chowdhury, aka "Gulam Latif Chaudhury," 29, operated and controlled two now-defunct pharmacies known as Alexandria...

NORFOLK, Va. – Barry Jamel Alexander, 33, of Norfolk, was sentenced today to 13 years in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin. Over the last five years, Alexander sold quantities of heroin in excess of two kilograms to customers on multiple occasions. Alexander sold heroin mixed with fentanyl to a...