TAMPA, Fla. - Mario D. Heatly (39, St. Petersburg) was sentenced to nine years and four months in federal prison for possessing 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute it. Heatly had pleaded guilty on September 26, 2019. According to court documents, law enforcement officers executed...

TAMPA, Fla. - A federal jury has found Emiro Hinestroza-Newbbooll (48, Colombia) guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while onboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and one count of...

TAMPA, Fla. - Shamon D. Heatly (37, St. Petersburg) was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for selling cocaine. Heatly had pleaded guilty on October 28, 2019. According to court documents, an undercover law enforcement officer met with Heatly, at which time Heatly directed the officer...

TAMPA, Fla. – Manuel Alfonso Munoz, 48, of Tampa, was sentenced to nine years and three months in federal prison for selling cocaine. Munoz pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2019. According to court documents, Munoz sold cocaine to a confidential informant on six occasions. The total amount of cocaine sold...

TAMPA, Fla. – A federal grand jury today returned an indictment charging Damian Sierra, 41, of Port St. Lucie, with possessing 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute. If convicted, Sierra faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, up to 40 years, in federal prison...

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Drug Enforcement Administration yesterday announced that a member of a large drug trafficking organization was sentenced. Byron A. Lawson, age 40, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced as part of Operation Hidden Fee, an extensive federal, state, and local investigation by the Middle District Organized...

TAMPA, Fla. - Jimmy Riascos-Riascos, 44, Colombia, South America, was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine on board vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Riascos-Riascos had pleaded guilty on July 18, 2019. According to court records, Riascos-Riascos was...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Kenneth Bernard Smith, 55, of Winter Garden, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for possessing a loaded firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon, and for possessing with the intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. Smith had previously pleaded guilty to the offenses. According to...

BATON ROUGE, La. – The leader of a large drug trafficking organization, James C. Hull, 41, of Baton Rouge, was sentenced as part of Operation Hidden Fee, an extensive federal, state and local investigation by the Middle District Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force aimed at a drug trafficking...

TAMPA, Fla. - Carlos Chavez-Aguirre, 35, Yesid Caicedo Asprilla, 50, and David Hurtado Vallecilla, 45, all Colombian nationals, were sentenced to 20, 12, and 11 years, respectively, in federal prison terms for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while...