COLUMBUS, Ohio - Four defendants are being transported to Columbus, Ohio, today for federal prosecution in the Southern District of Ohio after being charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute approximately 720 kilograms of cocaine. The defendants were apprehended in August near the Galapagos Islands, making this the...

CINCINNATI - Phillip Watkins, 32, of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute heroin laced with carfentanil. Carfentanil is a controlled substance 10,000 times more powerful than morphine, and caused serious physical harm to people who bought the drugs. Watkins also pleaded guilty to attempting to murder a witness he...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Seventeen people were indicted in federal court for their role in a conspiracy to purchase large amounts of powder cocaine, cook the drug into crack cocaine and then sell it in and around Medina County, law enforcement officials said. Indicted in federal court are: Troy Bankhead, 47...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced that his office sought, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Phillip J. Green issued last Friday and earlier today, arrest warrants for 18 separate defendants charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine in the areas of Grand Rapids...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - David McShan, 39, of Steubenville, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 74 months in prison and eight years of supervised release for his role in running a Steubenville-area heroin-trafficking ring. McShan and his brother, Frederick A. McShan, 37, were each convicted following a weeklong jury...

BOSTON - Two Yarmouthport brothers, a Dominican national, and a Boston man were charged with running a large-scale heroin and fentanyl trafficking operation in Boston and on Cape Cod. Hundreds of fentanyl pills designed to look like oxycodone pills were allegedly trafficked by the defendants. Alex Fraga, 25, the proprietor...

DETROIT - Acting United States Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch announced that a physician who practiced in Oak Park, Michigan, pled guilty on August 16th, 2017, to writing prescriptions for oxycodone without medical justification. Lemisch was joined in the announcement by Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S...

DAYTON, Ohio - The DEA announced today that Dayton will be the next “360 Strategy” city to take part in a comprehensive law enforcement and prevention effort that’s designed to assist communities dealing with the heroin and prescription drug abuse epidemic. Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the DEA’s Detroit...

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Twenty-two people were indicted in federal court for their roles trafficking heroin and other drugs in the Youngstown and Ravenna areas, law enforcement officials said. Arrests were executed this morning for people named in three separate indictments. A 79-count indictment charges 12 people with drug trafficking and...

BOSTON - Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the DEA’s New England Division and Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb announced that Eric Matos, 37, a Dominican national residing in Lawrence, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to 121 months in prison and three...