SEATTLE - A former Amanda Park, Washington resident who operated a shingle mill as a cover for distributing methamphetamine was sentenced today to ten years in prison. Jose Naur Sanchez, 35, was arrested in June 2012, following a lengthy investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Sanchez pleaded guilty in...

MEDFORD, Ore. - Robert Hisamoto, 42, of Ashland, Oregon, was sentenced today to 48 months in federal prison for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana. Hisamoto is the owner and operator of Samurai Fighting Arts in Medford, Oregon. In August 2011, the investigation led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA)...

BOISE, Idaho - - Lena Kettle, 46, of Caldwell, Idaho, Heidi Aguila, 34, of Middleton, Idaho, and Kenneth Jones, 47, of Elverta, California, appeared in federal court on May 28, 2013, on an 89-count federal indictment charging them and 17 others with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; possession with intent to...

WASHINGTON - - DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart today announced that MANSSOR ARBABSIAR, a/k/a “Mansour Arbabsiar,” was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 25 years in prison for participating in a plot to murder the SaudiArabian Ambassador to the U.S., while the Ambassador was in the U.S. ARBABSIAR, a...

(MEDFORD, Ore.) - - Brian Wayne Simmons, 40, of Medford, Oregon, was sentenced on May 28, 2013, to 15 years in federal prison for conspiracy, and manufacturing and distributing marijuana. Simmons owned and operated Brian’s Green Thumb Farm on East Gregory Road in Central Point, Oregon, purporting to grow organic...

WASHINGTON - DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and other federal officials today announced the extradition of ALFONSO PORTILLO, the former President of Guatemala, who is charged with conspiring to launder millions of dollars he embezzled from the Government of Guatemala through bank accounts located in the United States. Portillo arrived...

WASHINGTON - DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, today announced that Richard Ammar Chichakli, an associate of the convicted international arms dealer Viktor Bout, was extradited from Australia on charges that he allegedly conspired with Bout and...

(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) - - Jeraelyn Hill a/k/a, “Dreadhead,” a/k/a, “Coo Rae,” a/k/a, “Coo,” a/k/a, “Rae”, 25, from Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced on May 23, 2013, in U.S. District Court for his role in an Anchorage and Fairbanks drug conspiracy. Hill received a sentence of 66 months in prison and three...

(BELLINGHAM, Wash.) - - A 37-year-old Bellingham woman who was a key player in a Whatcom County drug distribution ring was sentenced on May 21, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Seattle to nine years in prison and four years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Rosie...

MAY 20 - SEATTLE - A drug trafficker who came to the attention of law enforcement after his roommate was shot and killed in November 2012 was convicted on May 16, 2013, following a three day jury trial. Juan Hidalgo-Mendoza, 33, of Lakewood, Washington was convicted of conspiracy to distribute...