ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of Fentanyl Free America, a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl. Through intensified enforcement operations and...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who sold the fentanyl that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital in one day in 2019 to 14 years in prison. Zachary Hovis, 24, provided fentanyl to an 18-year-old woman in the parking...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who sold the fake Percocet pills that killed a man in St. Louis County in 2022 to 23 years and eight months in prison. “I’m going to send a message to other drug dealers,” said Judge...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A dozen Kansas City metropolitan area men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, which resulted in at least one death, and to illegally possessing firearms. Justin D. Rivera, also known as “JD,” 20, Yael Figueroa...

ST. LOUIS – A jury Wednesday evening convicted a man from Belleville, Illinois, of a charge related to his sale of fake Percocet pills that killed a man in St. Louis County in 2022. A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis found Deontae’ Tre’Von Overall, 28, guilty of...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who sold fentanyl to someone who later suffered a fatal overdose to 10 years in prison. Dylan C. McMikle, 22, of Jackson, Missouri, provided several lines of powdered fentanyl that the 25-year-old victim snorted early...

FRESNO, Calif. — An investigation into the death of a correctional officer led to the arrests of three defendants today who are charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to distribute controlled substances and introducing narcotic drugs to an inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater, California. According to court documents...

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Peters, Missouri, on Friday admitted selling the fentanyl that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital in one day in 2019. Zachary Hovis, 24, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of distribution of fentanyl. Hovis...

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...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a man who bought 630,000 counterfeit Xanax and other pills on the dark web to five years in prison and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine. Maximillian Gregory Verbowski will also be on supervised release for...