POCATELLO, Idaho – Melvin Misael Alcaraz-Valdez, of Declo, Idaho, was sentenced to federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, today. Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye sentenced Alcaraz-Valdez to 135 months. 11 years, 3 months. Alcaraz-Valdez, upon completion of his time...

SEATTLE – A top leader of a violent international drug trafficking organization that distributed heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine in the Puget Sound region, pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Luis Arturo Magana-Ramirez, 34, of Fife, Washington, faces a mandatory minimum ten years in prison and up...

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis woman has pleaded guilty to misappropriating and adulterating prescription morphine while working as a pharmacist. According to court documents, on October 30, 2019, Jennifer Lee Draheim, 42, a pharmacist at Coburn’s Pharmacy in Ramsey, removed a bottle of morphine sulfate from the Scheduled Drug Cabinet and...

MEDFORD, Ore.—A Josephine County, Oregon man who distributed marijuana throughout the U.S. using his private airplane, and who hired a hitman to kill a drug trafficking associate, was sentenced to federal prison today. John Tobe Larson, 71, was sentenced to 35 months in federal prison and five years of supervised...

PORTLAND, Ore.—A former Clackamas, Oregon dentist pleaded guilty today to illegally distributing controlled substances, including prescription drugs, and anabolic steroids. Salwan Wesam Adjaj, 43, a resident of West Linn, Oregon, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with distributing and possessing with intent to distribute controlled...

OMAHA, Neb.–Investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Division seized approximately 32,000 fake pills in Omaha, some laced with lethal doses of fentanyl, in a two-day span beginning July 8. During the first six months of 2022, DEA investigators seized approximately 151,500 pills in Nebraska, marking an 83 percent...

BOISE, Idaho – On Friday, July 1, 2022, Dakota James Hoffman, 29, of Bellevue, Idaho, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for distribution of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced. According to court records, Hoffman distributed oxycodone pills to a man with the initials A.K. who overdosed on...

SEATTLE – The Arlington, Washington based leader of a prolific and violent drug trafficking ring pleaded guilty this week to federal drug, gun, and money laundering crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and carrying...

TACOMA, Wash. – Multiple members of a methamphetamine trafficking ring were indicted last week in U.S. District Court for seven federal felonies related to their drug trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Some of the conspirators, have been charged in state court over the last ten years, but fled the...

POCATELLO, Idaho – After a four-day trial, a federal jury sitting in Pocatello found Adam Lee Vallely 46, of Pocatello, Idaho, guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, and one count of possession with the intent to...