HAMMOND, Ind. - Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and M. Scott Proctor, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, announced that Fernando Porras Jr., 64, of Hammond, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gretchen S. Lund after pleading...

URBANA, Ill. – Shane R. Catone, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, and Gregory M. Gilmore, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, announced that a federal jury returned eight guilty verdicts on November 19, 2025, against Marcus “Slim” McKinney, 49...

MIDLAND, Texas – A former ranking member of the Texas Mexican Mafia was sentenced in federal court in Midland to 180 months in prison for six counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. According to court documents, Paul Lujan, 42, of Odessa, was a well-known gang member who had...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Alfred Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and Acting U.S. Attorney M. Scott Proctor for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Lajuane Broadus, 48, Fort Wayne, was sentenced to 200 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised...

ALBUQUERQUE – A Texas woman is facing federal charges after U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than 20 pounds of cocaine from her vehicle during a checkpoint inspection south of Alamogordo, New Mexico. According to court documents, on the afternoon of June 16, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered Aurelia...

CHICAGO — Sheila Lyons, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois announced that James Howard, 32, of Frankfort, Illinois, and Shantel Robinson, 31, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, were charged with drug conspiracy. Federal...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and Acting U.S. Attorney Tina L. Nommay for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Ezequiel Rosa-Hernandez, 47, of Erie, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after...

CHICAGO — Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois announced that a federal grand jury has indicted a suburban Chicago man for allegedly trafficking firearms and drugs. An indictment returned...

MIDLAND, Texas – A Mexican national unlawfully residing in Texas was sentenced Thursday to life in federal prison for his criminal actions as the leader of a drug trafficking organization tied to a Mexican cartel. According to court documents, Jose Ramon Castillo-Lopez aka “Pepo,” 30, of Namiquipa, Chihuahua, Mexico, supplied...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Juan Aquino, 53, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading...