FRESNO, Calif. — Randal Jason Newell, 41, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon and Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. According to court documents, on Dec. 5, 2020, Newell drove from Bakersfield to...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Rosa De Santiago, 48, of Sunland Park, New Mexico, was sentenced in federal court today to 12 years in prison for her part in a drug trafficking and international money laundering conspiracy. De Santiago was one of 22 defendants charged in a 44-count superseding indictment on Aug...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Physician Edmund Kemprud, 78, of Dublin, was convicted today of 14 counts of illegally prescribing opioids and other controlled substances patients, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to evidence presented at trial, Kemprud was a physician licensed to practice medicine in California and worked in...

PECOS – Today a federal jury in Pecos convicted a Mexican national for his role in distributing marijuana. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Tomas Herrera-Quinones, 33, and six other co-defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and one...

FRESNO, Calif. — Uriel Ivan Portillo, 35, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon and Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, on Nov. 21, 2019, Portillo distributed 5,000...

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned two indictments today, charging two Fresno County men with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute it, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. In addition to being charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, Uriel Diaz-Santos, 19, of Fresno, was...

EL PASO – The Drug Enforcement Administration, along with its law enforcement partners, has removed close to 745,000 pounds of unneeded prescriptions from medicine cabinets across the country as part of DEA’s ongoing commitment to turn the tide against the U.S. opioid epidemic. Following last month’s 21st National Prescription Drug...

EL PASO – A federal jury convicted two Sinaloa Cartel members on Friday for their roles in the Sinaloa Cartel’s narcotics distribution operations. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Arturo Shows Urquidi, aka “Chous,” 50, of Juarez, Mexico and Mario Iglesias-Villegas, aka “Dos,” “El 2,” “Delta,” “Parka,”...

EL PASO – To commemorate Red Ribbon Week, Fire Prevention Week, and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Drug Enforcement Administration El Paso Division, the El Paso Association of Firefighters Local 51, El Paso Electric, Texas Gas Service, YWCA El Paso Del Norte Region, and the El Paso Chamber partnered...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Javier Jaquez, 50, of Albuquerque, was sentenced on Aug. 26 to 32 years in federal prison. On Sept. 18, 2020, Jaquez pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 100 grams and more of heroin, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being...