SEATTLE– A 46-year-old Pierce County man was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle to seven years in prison for his repeated drug trafficking and firearms possession. Ryan James Townsend was indicted in November 2023, after two encounters with law enforcement. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge...

TACOMA, Wash. – The leader of a methamphetamine trafficking ring was sentenced Friday August 30, 2024, in U.S. District Court for federal felonies related to his drug trafficking. Jesus Venegas-Gatica, 37, of Lakewood, Washington was sentenced to 97 months. At the sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo...

BOISE, Idaho – Nathaniel Erik Walsh, 29, of Middleton, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl that resulted in the death of an individual. According to court records, Walsh distributed six fentanyl pills to an individual on April 29, 2023. Walsh drove from Caldwell to Boise...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The leader of an extensive transnational drug trafficking organization was sentenced to 28 years in prison for running a conspiracy that trafficked vast amounts of dangerous drugs to Alaska. According to court documents, Miguel Baez Guevara, a.k.a. “Javi,” 41, a U.S. citizen who was living in Mexico...

LITTLE ROCK—On July 30, 2024, in Houston, Texas, the Drug Enforcement Administration initiated the arrests of twenty-four co-conspirators following a superseding indictment in the Eastern District of Arkansas. The arrests follow the initial indictment and arrest of eighteen people from the Houston, Texas, area in November 2023. Defendants arrested in...

LITTLE ROCK—Roy Edsel Heifner, Jr., classified as an armed career criminal based on his multiple prior convictions, will spend 15 years in federal prison for his involvement in the distribution of controlled substances, including fentanyl, and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jonathan D. Ross, United States...

TEXARKANA, AR – A Texarkana Physician was sentenced today to 87 months in prison followed by three years of supervised on two counts of Distribution of a Schedule II Controlled Substance Without an Effective Prescription and 12 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release on two counts...

HOT SPRINGS – A Hot Springs woman was sentenced Monday to 188 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute More Than Fifty (50) Grams of Methamphetamine. The Honorable Chief Judge Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearing...

PORTLAND, Ore.—The manager of an Oregon-based drug trafficking cell with ties to a large Mexico-based drug trafficking organization was sentenced to federal prison today following an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Horacio Luna-Perez, 42, of Hillsboro, Oregon, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison and five...

Seattle – A 37-year-old former Kent, Washington, resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for selling narcotics near a drug treatment center. Mohamed Aweys Muse has been in custody since his arrest in March 2023. At...