MIAMI - As U.S. overdose deaths reach a devastating new height, claiming a new victim every five minutes, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has revealed a direct link between fentanyl-related overdose deaths and criminal drug networks in Mexico. These groups are harnessing social media platforms to bring drugs laced with...

OCALA, Fla. – Following eight days of trial in federal court, David Chappell Fey (57, Belleview) and Shari Lynn Gunter (58, Ocklawaha) have each been found guilty as charged for the murder of a government witness. The trial required special accommodations: a separate jury heard evidence for each defendant. In...

TAMPA, Fla. –Ahmad Rashad Weston, aka “Blood,” 42, of St. Petersburg, was sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of a drug mixture containing heroin and fentanyl, as well as 500 grams or more of cocaine. Weston pleaded guilty...

TAMPA, Fla. – A federal jury has found Clifford Edward Albritton, III, 44, of Lakeland, Florida, guilty of conspiracy to possess 400 grams or more of fentanyl with the intent to distribute it and possession of 40 grams or more of fentanyl with the intent to distribute it. Albritton faces...

FORT MYERS, Fla. – David Levon Massey (32, Cape Coral) was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute. Massey had pleaded guilty on July 7, 2021. According to court documents, in February 2020, Massey was released from federal prison after serving more...

MIAMI - Today, at a press conference, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram announced a significant law enforcement surge to protect American communities from the flood of fentanyl and fentanyl-laced pills across the United States. Illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid found in most of the...

MIAMI, Fla. – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Department of State today announced a new reward for information that will lead to the location, arrest, and/or conviction of People’s Republic of China (PRC) national Jian Zhang, a key leader of a transnational criminal organization known as...

TAMPA, Fla. – David Burkes (52, Safety Harbor) was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for distributing narcotics, resulting in death to one individual and seriously bodily injury to another. Burkes had pleaded guilty on April 21, 2021. According to the plea agreement, beginning on Aug. 12, 2019, Burkes distributed fentanyl...

TAMPA, Fla. – Jared Collins (28, Pasco County) was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for distributing narcotics, resulting in death. Collins had pleaded guilty on April 27, 2021. According to the plea agreement, on Dec. 16, 2019, Collins distributed narcotics to M.B. in Wesley Chapel. M.B. injected the narcotics and...

TAMPA, Fla. – A federal jury has found Wilis A. Santiago Rivera (60, St. Petersburg) guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. Santiago faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date...