DETROIT – A former Oakland County reserve deputy sheriff will spend 49 months in prison for the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider announced today. Joining Schneider in the announcement was DEA Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon and FBI Detroit Division Special Agent...

SAN DIEGO – Three federal indictments unsealed in San Diego this week charge 20 people, including documented gang members and associates, with trafficking in oxycodone, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and ultra-deadly carfentanil from homes in City Heights, College Grove and Imperial Beach. One defendant, Dat Pham Tien Tran aka “Damian,” is...

DAYTON, Ohio – Craig H. Gilbreath, Jr., 20, of Springfield, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 60 months in prison for possessing carfentanil. DEA Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin C. Glassman, Springfield Police Chief Lee...

CLEVELAND – On Monday, March 18, and Tuesday, March 19, 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federation of State Medical Boards hosted two regional one-day Practitioner Diversion Awareness Conferences. Drug overdoses are still a public health crisis in the United States and the misuse of prescription opioids continue to...

DETROIT – The Drug Enforcement Administration urges its DEA-registered practitioners and members of the public to be cautious of telephone calls from criminals posing as DEA or other law enforcement personnel threatening arrest and prosecution for supposed violations of federal drug laws or involvement in drug-trafficking activities. DEA continues to...

CLEVELAND - Twenty-two people were indicted in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to traffic fentanyl, heroin, fentanyl analogues including carfentanil, and other drugs, which they sold in Euclid and Cleveland to customers from across Northeast Ohio. Named in the 42-count indictment are: Joseph P. Gray, Jr., 30...

DETROIT – In an effort to mitigate vulnerabilities within the commerce stream that threaten the nation’s consumers and to protect national security, Homeland Security officials recently launched its Global Trade Task Force, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations-led multi-agency effort that leverages robust import and export controls...

SAN DIEGO – A leader of the Westside Crips was sentenced to 82 months in prison on March 7, 2019 for his aggravating role in a racketeering conspiracy involving sex trafficking, narcotics trafficking and other violent crimes as well as possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute...

SAN DIEGO – Former Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher Esteban Loaiza was sentenced in federal court on March 8, 2019 to 36 months in prison for knowingly and intentionally possessing 20 kilograms - about 44 pounds - of cocaine with intent to distribute. “Mr. Loaiza lived every young boy’s dream...

CINCINNATI – A defendant was sentenced today in the first federally indicted carfentanil prosecution in the country. Phillip Watkins, 34, of Cincinnati, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 300 months in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin laced with carfentanil and attempting to murder a witness he believed...