MIDLAND, Texas – A former ranking member of the Texas Mexican Mafia was sentenced in federal court in Midland to 180 months in prison for six counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. According to court documents, Paul Lujan, 42, of Odessa, was a well-known gang member who had...

ALBUQUERQUE – A Texas woman is facing federal charges after U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than 20 pounds of cocaine from her vehicle during a checkpoint inspection south of Alamogordo, New Mexico. According to court documents, on the afternoon of June 16, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered Aurelia...

LANSING, Mich. – Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Andrew Byerly Birge today announced that James Smith, 42, and Patrick Donald Martin, 27, both of Kalamazoo County, were sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in the distribution of controlled substances in April 2023 that resulted in...

GRAND RAPIDS – Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Andrew B. Birge today announced that Willie David Lark, 53, of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, 40 grams or more of...

DETROIT – Joseph Twilley, 65 years old, of Detroit, was sentenced to just over 13 years in prison. United States District Judge Laurie J. Michelson sentenced the Detroit-based leader for overseeing a drug trafficking network that distributed kilograms of cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin; laundering his drug money; and possessing firearms...

DETROIT - Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Andrew Birge today announced that United States District Judge Jane M. Beckering sentenced Jason Demyers, 44, a current resident of Arizona with significant ties to Lansing, Michigan, to serve 324 months in prison for his leadership of a multi-state...

MIDLAND, Texas – A Mexican national unlawfully residing in Texas was sentenced Thursday to life in federal prison for his criminal actions as the leader of a drug trafficking organization tied to a Mexican cartel. According to court documents, Jose Ramon Castillo-Lopez aka “Pepo,” 30, of Namiquipa, Chihuahua, Mexico, supplied...

DETROIT – A State of Washington man was sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison for his role in an armed drug conspiracy that amassed nearly 200 pounds of methamphetamine and other controlled substances, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced. Ison was joined in the announcement by Orville O...

DETROIT – Kevin Dunson, 43, Lansing, was indicted by a federal grand jury for possession with intent to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine and over 500 grams of cocaine and for being a felon in possession of firearms. Dunson was originally arrested on a federal criminal complaint Nov. 1...

ALBUQUERQUE – This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Marshal Service, the Las Cruces Police Department, and the Doña Ana Sheriff’s Office, conducted a coordinated operation to dismantle a significant drug trafficking network in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The operation targeted 15...