CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago has convicted a man of trafficking methamphetamine to Illinois from California. Hugo Steven De La Cruz Corona, 24, of San Jacinto, California, trafficked the meth on behalf of a Los Angeles-based drug trafficking organization that distributed narcotics throughout the country via the U.S...

MILWAUKEE -- U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman sentenced Jerry Jones III, 69, a former emergency room physician from Mequon, Wisconsin, to 27 months’ imprisonment on Oct. 1, 2026, announced Brad D. Schimel, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. On June 29, 2026, Jones pleaded guilty...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Jianhua Zhao, 25, of the People’s Republic of China, and residing in Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty on Oct.1, 2026, after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and distributing five grams or more of methamphetamine...

PEORIA, Ill. – Dione D. Alexander, 37, of Peoria, was sentenced on Sept. 18, 2026, to 120 months’ imprisonment for distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine (actual), to be followed by five years of supervised release. At sentencing the government provided information that between Sept. 4, 2024, and...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Sept. 23, 2026, Robert Newton, 34, of Niles, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Newton was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by five...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On Sept. 18, 2026, DeCarlos L. Smallwood, 51, of South Bend, was convicted of eight felony counts after a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty. Smallwood was found guilty of drug and firearm offenses, including conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or...

CHICAGO – Todd C. Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, announced drug-related charges filed with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office against two men. Burhan C. Ozerdinc, 33, of Oak Lawn, Illinois, and Ahmad S. Sanducka, 33, of Mount Prospect, Illinois, were...

BOSTON – A Boston man has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for felony narcotics charges. Michael Lagasse, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Myong J. Joun to time-served (approximately 10 months) followed by three years of supervised release. The government recommended a sentence of 40 months...

STAMFORD, Conn. - David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RAMION BAKER, also known as “Ray Ray,” 46, of Stamford, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 162 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for...

BOSTON – A Las Vegas man, formerly of Northborough, Mass., pleaded guilty on Sept. 10, 2026 in federal court in Worcester for conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute large quantities of anabolic steroids and methamphetamine. The defendant also pleaded guilty to firearms charges. Mark Taslakian, 52...