FRESNO, Calif. - Two federal indictments were returned today in two separate cases originating from Kern County involving large quantities of controlled substances, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Cocaine Case In the first case...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a single count indictment today, charging Benjamin Soto, 37, and Joaquin Soto, 18, both of San Jose, with possession with the intent to distribute heroin, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B...

FRESNO, Calif. - Brothers Edwan Dablan, 37, of Kingsburg, and Khamal Dablan, 25, of Selma, pleaded guilty on Monday to participating in a long-term methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Edwan Dablan also pleaded...

FRESNO, Calif. - On January 28, 2013, U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced David Chavez Jr., 32, of Bakersfield, to four years in prison for using a communication (telephone) in connection with a drug trafficking offense. He pleaded guilty on September 24, 2012. As part of the plea agreement...

FRESNO, Calif. - Joseph Edwin Gable, aka Mike Jones, 42, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to structuring proceeds derived from an interstate drug trafficking operation, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. According to court documents, Gable acknowledged...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Charles Miller Hilkey Jr., 58, of the Nevada City area, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton in connection with the cultivation of marijuana and structuring cash transactions to avoid reporting requirements, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano...

FRESNO, Calif.) - Two large-scale marijuana cultivators in Kern County entered guilty pleas and two cultivators in Kings and Fresno Counties were sentenced today in federal court, Acting Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Guilty Plea in Federal Wiretap...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Lynn Farrell Smith, 62, of Stockton, pleaded guilty today to federal marijuana charges that include conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, two counts of manufacturing marijuana and six counts of distributing marijuana from storefronts in Stockton and Sacramento, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) Administrator Michele Leonhart and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, announced that Richard Ammar Chichakli, an associate of convicted international arms dealer, Viktor Bout, was arrested yesterday in Australia for, among other things, allegedly conspiring with Bout and others to violate the International Emergency Economic...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gennaro DiMatteo, 43, of South Lake Tahoe, pleaded guilty today to count two of the indictment, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. This case is the product of...