ROANOKE, Va. -- Ana Bella Sanchez-Rios, the former owner and operator of a Martinsville business used to launder more than $4.3 million in profits for an international drug cartel, was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court to 96 months in federal prison. Sanchez-Rios laundered the funds for the Jalisco...

Harrisonburg, Va. – Two of the five defendants charged as part of a conspiracy that trafficked heroin from Maryland to Virginia leading to at least one fatal and one non-fatal overdose were sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg, Special Agent in Charge Jarod A. Forget of the Drug...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., – A Florida man pleaded guilty today to unlawfully distributing thousands of prescription opioid pills in exchange for over half a million dollars through the “dark web.” According to court documents, between 2012 and 2020, Daren James Reid, 35, of Fort Lauderdale, used the dark web to distribute...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The mastermind behind an extensive drug trafficking ring entered a guilty plea this week, and four other defendants either entered pleas or were sentenced recently to substantial terms in prison for distributing large amounts of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in Newport News and North Carolina. “This...

ROANOKE, Va. – Bryan Wade Lewis, a former pharmacist at Home Choice Partners in Roanoke, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court for tampering with a consumer product, hydromorphone, that affected interstate commerce. Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Washington Division and Acting United States Attorney Daniel...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Seabrook, New Hampshire man pleaded guilty today to his role in a nationwide conspiracy to distribute synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as “spice” or “K2.” According to court documents, William Walsh, 56, operated two shops in Seabrook—“Up N Smoke” and “The Smoking Monkey”—from which he sold retail...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Three Colombian nationals pleaded guilty today to possessing with the intent to distribute nearly 1,500 kilograms of cocaine when they were interdicted in an unregistered vessel on the Pacific Ocean. According to court documents, on August 6, 2020, Eliovar Pineda, 45, Jenuar Angulo, 40, and Marcial...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Camp Springs, Maryland man was sentenced today to 140 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, which led to the seizure of over $1 million in cash, approximately 45 kilograms of cocaine, over $240,000 worth of jewelry, four firearms, and...

HARRISONBURG, Va.- A Front Royal, Virginia man, who in the fall of 2017 distributed two fatal, fentanyl-laced doses of heroin, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg to a drug charge that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, and the possibility of a life...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The DEA Washington Division is pleased to announce that Jarod A. Forget has been selected as the new Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Washington Division. SAC Forget will be responsible for DEA offices and mission throughout Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. This will...