EL PASO, Texas – With robust public participation over the course of 16 prior events, the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Initiative continues to remove ever-higher amounts of opioids and other medicines from the nation’s homes, where they are vulnerable to misuse, theft or abuse by family members and...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Christopher Thomas Howard, a/k/a “Indy,” 33, of Fairbanks, has been federally indicted with three counts of distribution of methamphetamine. Howard was arrested on April 5, 2019, based on a criminal complaint. According to the criminal complaint, on Jan. 3, 2019, Howard allegedly negotiated to sell two ounces...

SEATTLE – This Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time, the Drug Enforcement Administration and its local law enforcement, community and tribal partners in the Pacific Northwest will collect expired, unused and unwanted prescription medications at one of 230 collection sites. There are 19 collection sites...

ALBUQUERQUE , N.M. – A federal jury sitting in Albuquerque returned a guilty verdict against Yusef Casanova, 46, of Albuquerque, on methamphetamine trafficking and firearms charges today after a four-day trial before Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker. The verdict was announced by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred J...

BOISE, Idaho – Roberto Joe Miguel Serpa, 39, of Caldwell, was sentenced this week for his role in two federal drug crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis. Serpa was sentenced on April 16, 2019, to 126 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Serpa was sentenced...

SPOKANE, Wash. – Carlos Peraza-Kissi, age 25, of Yakima, Washington, was sentenced April 17, 2019, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian sentenced Peraza-Kissi to a 188-month term of imprisonment, to be followed by a five-year term of court supervision after he is...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Daniela Cota-Guitimea with a fentanyl trafficking offense. The charge arises from a DEA seizure of approximately 18.144 pounds of fentanyl in Albuquerque on April 16, 2019. Cota-Guitimea was remanded into...

BOISE, Idaho – Jennifer L. Fanopoulos, 41, of Boise, was sentenced yesterday to three years of probation for obtaining controlled substances by fraud. Fanopoulos was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge. Fanopoulos pleaded guilty on Oct. 25, 2018. According to court records, Fanopoulos was employed as a...

PORTLAND, Ore . – Paul Eugene Thomas, 38, of Portland, pleaded guilty on April 10, 2019, to one count of conspiring to manufacture, possess with intent to distribute, distributing marijuana, maintaining drug involved premises and one count of money laundering for his role in a vast conspiracy to traffic marijuana...

PORTLAND, Ore.—Esteban Guillen Ramirez, 53, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, was sentenced on April 7, 2019, to one year in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for his role in a complex black market peso exchange money laundering scheme. The scheme was uncovered in 2015 following a lengthy investigation by...