TACOMA, Wash. – The leader of a methamphetamine trafficking ring was sentenced Friday August 30, 2024, in U.S. District Court for federal felonies related to his drug trafficking. Jesus Venegas-Gatica, 37, of Lakewood, Washington was sentenced to 97 months. At the sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo...

BOISE, Idaho – Nathaniel Erik Walsh, 29, of Middleton, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl that resulted in the death of an individual. According to court records, Walsh distributed six fentanyl pills to an individual on April 29, 2023. Walsh drove from Caldwell to Boise...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The leader of an extensive transnational drug trafficking organization was sentenced to 28 years in prison for running a conspiracy that trafficked vast amounts of dangerous drugs to Alaska. According to court documents, Miguel Baez Guevara, a.k.a. “Javi,” 41, a U.S. citizen who was living in Mexico...

MIAMI - On Sept. 3, Patrick Ward, 39, of Saint Lucie County, Fla., was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for trafficking fentanyl. The sentence comes after Ward previously pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl on three separate occasions. According to...

MIAMI – A couple from Lake Worth, Fla., pled guilty to distributing fentanyl that resulted in the death of a baby and for being felons in unlawful possession of firearms. Today, Samantha Yi, 32, pled guilty to a superseding indictment charging Yi and her boyfriend Darnell Mendez with conspiracy to...

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of four indictments charging a total of 12 individuals with murder in furtherance of drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, illegal possession of firearms, and bank fraud...

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Mario Espino (25, Holiday) has pleaded guilty to five counts of a superseding indictment charging him with kidnapping, possessing methamphetamine and fentanyl with the intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Espino...

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Joseph Marion, 41, of St. Petersburg, Fla., to life in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and crack cocaine; distributing fentanyl; distributing a mixture of fentanyl and heroin that resulted in serious bodily injury; and possessing...

PORTLAND, Ore.—The manager of an Oregon-based drug trafficking cell with ties to a large Mexico-based drug trafficking organization was sentenced to federal prison today following an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Horacio Luna-Perez, 42, of Hillsboro, Oregon, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison and five...

Seattle – A 37-year-old former Kent, Washington, resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for selling narcotics near a drug treatment center. Mohamed Aweys Muse has been in custody since his arrest in March 2023. At...