ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Jerry Twaddle, 40, of Carlsbad, New Mexico, was sentenced on Sept. 9 in federal court to 20 years in prison on drug trafficking charges. On Feb. 6, 2019, a jury found Twaddle guilty on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, using a communication facility (telephone)...

WASHINGTON – Today, Attorney General William P. Barr and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea announced the results of Operation Crystal Shield, DEA’s six-month-long effort targeting the command and control elements of Mexican cartels that operate major methamphetamine “transportation hubs” in the United States. At a press conference...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A federal judge sentenced Chase Smothermon, 32, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to 45 years in prison for abducting and assaulting two men, one of whom was tortured, killed, and mutilated. Smothermon suspected the victims of stealing drugs and money from his home. On Jan. 24, Smothermon pleaded...

PORTLAND, Ore. - A former nurse from Vancouver, Washington was sentenced to federal prison today for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances. Rene Elene Griffin Nunn, 60, was sentenced to eight months in prison and 3 years’ supervised release. At the time of the offense, Nunn...

SEATTLE - Twelve members of a drug trafficking group distributing fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine throughout the Puget Sound region were arrested today following a year-long investigation and two grand jury indictments. The members of the conspiracies engaged in trafficking activities from Mexico, through California and Oregon, and into the...

SEATTLE - Fifteen people were arrested today throughout the Puget Sound region and in California following an 18-month investigation of a drug trafficking organization tied to the CJNG cartel in Mexico. Defendants arrested today made their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle. The South Sound Streets are safer...

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho - Larry Junior Hillbroom, 36, Morgan Kenney, 34, and Sean RoberWathen, 48, all of Hope, Idaho, were arrested on July 15, 2020, on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today. The charge stem from a June 16, 2020 indictment filed...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Mariah Ferry, 22, of Albuquerque, New Mexico was sentenced today in federal court in Santa Fe, New Mexico to 30 years in prison on charges related to the kidnappings and brutal assaults of two victims suspected of stealing drugs and money from the home of co-defendant, Chase...

SPOKANE, Wash. - Randall Curtis Gross, 27, of Grand Coulee, Washington, was sentenced on June 16, 2020, after having pleaded guilty on February 11, 2020, to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine as well as heroin. Senior District Court Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen sentenced Gross to a...

SEATTLE - Two Bellingham, Washington, residents made their initial appearance today in U.S. District Court in Seattle following their arrest on May 28, 2020, for distributing fake oxycodone tablets tainted with fentanyl. Troy J. Klander, 38, and Zachary D. Salas, 38, are charged with conspiracy to possess fentanyl with intent...