NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County, New Jersey, doctor was charged with conspiring to distribute opioids without a legitimate medical reason, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Jersey Field Division Cheryl Ortiz and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Lisa Ferraro, 65, of Hillsdale, New...

BOISE – U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced criminal charges against two defendants today as part of the Department of Justice’s 2023 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action. This two-week nationwide law enforcement action resulted in criminal charges against 78 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid...

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA—Former Advanced Nurse Practitioner Jessica Joyce Spayd (52) was sentenced in U.S. District Court yesterday to 30 years (360 months) imprisonment for illegally prescribing and dispensing opioids outside the scope of legitimate medical practice that resulted in the deaths of five people between 2014 and 2019. United States District...

SEATTLE – The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Lincoln Pharmacy in Tacoma have reached a settlement agreement over inspection findings by the Drug Enforcement Administration that Lincoln had failed to comply with some of the administrative requirements of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Lincoln Pharmacy will pay the United States $80,000...

EUGENE, Ore.—A Douglas County couple known for distributing drugs was sentenced to federal prison today after they were linked to the overdose death of man to whom they had sold drugs to for more than a year. Brian Joseph Ramos, 49, and Christine Marie Ramos, 41, residents of Yoncalla, Oregon...

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Susan A. Gibson and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger announced a pharmacist and pharmacy owner pleaded guilty today to violating the Controlled Substances Act by filling fraudulent and counterfeit...

SPOKANE, Wash. – Senior U.S. District Judge Edward F. Shea has sentenced Dr. Janet Sue Arnold, age 63, of Benton City, Washington, to 48 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute opioid pain medications and other controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose...

POCATELLO – A Murtaugh man and a Pocatello man pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Between January 1 and March 24, 2021, Antonio Verduzco-Arreola, 40, of Murtaugh, and Joseph Alexander Huber, 35, of Pocatello, entered into an agreement to distribute controlled substances in the Pocatello area. On...

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Susan A. Gibson and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Rachael A. Honig announced a nonprofit healthcare system that owns and operates a network of healthcare entities has agreed to pay $150,000...

PORTLAND, Ore.—In August and October 2021, coordinated law enforcement operations targeting two Portland-area transnational drug trafficking cells led to the arrests of the cells’ leaders and more than a dozen associates, and the seizure of approximately 200,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills suspected to contain fentanyl, two pounds of fentanyl powder, 40...