MIAMI – Five defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to import thousands of kilograms of cocaine into South Florida aboard sport fishing vessels from the Dominican Republic. According to court records, Andy Gabriel Mercedes-Hernandez, 32; Jesus Alberto Salcedo-Perez, 32; Keisy Estibet Peguero, 38; Enmanuel Amauris Rivera-Cabrera, 32; and Mario Joel Rijo-Jimenez...

MIAMI – Ten defendants have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a South Florida cocaine trafficking conspiracy that involved cocaine supplied by a Mexican drug cartel and others. U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles sentenced Reinaldo Fernandez, 63, to 188 months in federal prison; Javier Garcia-Mora, 40...

URBANA, Ill. – A Danville, Illinois, man, Marcus “Slim” McKinney, 50, was sentenced on Aug. 14, 2026, to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on three drug trafficking charges, including his involvement in a drug conspiracy that resulted in the overdose death of Maggie Avelar on Aug. 19, 2023...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Keith Jennings, 51, of South Bend, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty on Aug. 13, 2026, after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine...

MADISON, Wis. – Noah A. Hodges, 44, Madison, Wisconsin, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to five years in federal prison for possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine intended for distribution. The prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release. Hodges pleaded...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following a lengthy Homeland Security Task Force investigation, a federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky, returned an indictment on July 15, 2026, charging seven defendants, including three Mexican and two Guatemalan nationals, as part of an Owensboro-based methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking conspiracy. The defendants were arrested...

PEORIA, Ill. – Darrell J. Lindsey, 44, formerly of Peoria, was sentenced on Aug. 6, 2026, to 135 months imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, law enforcement began an investigation into Lindsey’s methamphetamine...

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Deon Dickerson, 45, of Evansville, has been sentenced to 23 years and two months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 50 grams or...

Jacksonville, Fla. – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the unsealing of an Indictment charging 13 defendants—all alleged members and associates of the Slime gang—with crimes including racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and retaliating against a witness. Slime was primarily active in the Northside...

Pensacola, Fla. – Arzalea Teshean McLaughlin, 37, Benjamin Eugene Mack, 54, and Roger Cornell Daniels, 38, all of Crestview, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and cocaine base, conspiracy to unlawfully use...