WASHINGTON D.C. - Costco Wholesale will pay $11.75 million to settle allegations that its pharmacies violated the Controlled Substances Act when they improperly filled prescriptions for controlled substances. The settlement resolves allegations that Costco pharmacies filled prescriptions that were incomplete, lacked valid Drug Enforcement (DEA) numbers or were for substances...

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the DEA Detroit Field Division, announced today that McKesson (McKesson), one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, agreed to pay a record $150 million...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three defendants were sentenced to federal prison last week for drug trafficking, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Matthew Barden and Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Santiago (aka Chuco), age 47, of Commerce, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 151...

DETROIT - McKesson (McKesson), one of the nation’s largest distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, agreed to pay a record $150 million civil penalty for alleged violations of the Controlled Substances (CSA). Special Agent-in-Charge Timothy J. Plancon of the DEA Detroit Field Division was joined in the announcement today by United State...

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Lexington man faces life in prison after a jury convicted him of distributing fentanyl that resulted in the overdose death of a 37 year-old Fayette County, Kentucky, resident. On Thursday, January 12th, 2017, Joshua Donald Ewing, 28, was convicted of distribution of a controlled substance resulting...

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The leader of a drug trafficking organization that brought significant amounts of heroin and fentanyl, from Detroit, Michigan for distribution in Richmond, Kentucky, has been sentenced to life in prison for distributing fentanyl that resulted in the overdose death of a Madison (KY) resident. On January 9th...

PHOENIX - The DEA announced the recent discovery of three overdose deaths involving the synthetic opioid U-47700, commonly referred to as “Pink.” The toxicology and investigative reports documenting the fatalities were shared with agents and intelligence resources as part of ongoing efforts by DEA’s Heroin Enforcement Action (HEAT), an enforcement...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sukita M Williams, 44, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Hilliard, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 72 months in prison for her role in a criminal organization that illegally trafficked the prescription painkiller oxycodone, between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Columbus, Ohio. Benjamin C. Glassman, United...

DETROIT, MI - U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today that a Livonia, Michigan doctor, Fanny Dela Cruz, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for participating in a conspiracy to illegally distribute prescription pills, and to defraud Medicare. McQuade was joined in the announcement by Timothy J. Plancon...

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Travis B. Preston, 28, and Tiffany L. Griffith, 25, both residents of Stanford, Kentucky, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute large quantities of fentanyl. Preston admitted to conspiring to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl. Griffith...