Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle has sentenced Nicolas Garcia Hernandez 27, Shelbyville, Tenn., to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Garcia Hernandez pleaded guilty on November 13, 2024. According to court documents, Garcia Hernandez, who had...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Johnnell Smith, 42, of Springfield, Illinois, was sentenced on Feb. 7, 2025, to 120 months in prison for possessing heroin with the intent to distribute it and for possessing a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug crime. At the sentencing hearing in front of Senior...

MIAMI – On Jan. 30, 2025, a federal district judge in West Palm Beach, Fla., sentenced Anthony Raul Del Valle, 29, of Lake Worth Beach, Fla., to 10 years in federal prison. The sentence comes after a federal jury found Del Valle guilty of distributing acetyl fentanyl and fentanyl and...

TAMPA, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, of Colombia, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, also of Colombia, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date...

MIAMI – Four South Florida residents have been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl and meth. On Jan. 16, Gito St. Fort, 35, of West Palm Beach, Fla., a career criminal, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of a controlled substance resulting...

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...

MIAMI– On Dec. 10, Blake Alfonso Kolessa, 27, of Greenacres, Fla., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks for possessing with intent to distribute metonitazene, N-desethyl isotonitazene, and methamphetamine. Kolessa previously pled guilty...

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Billy Ruiz (46, California) guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Ruiz faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. His...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke III, 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 Jarin Devon Noojin, 26, of Mishawaka, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Cristal C. Brisco...

HAMMOND, 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 Erik P. Grant, 32, of Schererville, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Gretchen S. Lund after pleading guilty...