BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A federal judge today sentenced a Birmingham, Alabama man to 20 years in prison for distributing fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid painkiller, that caused the death of a 20-year-old Pelham woman, announced DEA Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Bret Hamilton and Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey. A U.S...

NEW ORLEANS - The number of accidental drug-related overdose deaths in the City of New Orleans in 2016 exceeded the number of murders for the first time in the city’s history, according to the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office. Drug-related deaths in Orleans Parish totaled 211 in 2016, more than double...

MOBILE, Ala. - Elyric Nathaniel Singleton, III was sentenced today by a Senior United States District Judge to 97 months in federal prison for his role in nine pharmacy burglaries, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the...

PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Drug Enforcement (DEA) and Homeland Security (HSI) executed multiple search and arrest warrants today, closing two valley pharmacies and arresting a pharmacist as part of an ongoing OCDETF-designated investigation. On June 28, 2017, agents obtained an indictment from a federal grand jury charging pharmacist Vilawoe Aku...

MOBILE, Ala. - Dr. Rassan M. Tarabein, 58, a neurologist residing in Fairhope, Alabama, was arrested by law enforcement officials on federal and state criminal charges relating to health care fraud, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam, Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - On Thursday, June 22, 2017, Robert Francis Kelly, age 56, of Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 64 months in prison for possessing approximately 15 kilograms of cocaine with the intent to distribute, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and A. Clark Morris, Acting...

NEW ORLEANS - A federal jury has convicted Lazandy Daniels, 40, of the St. Roch neighborhood of New Orleans, for his role in distributing kilograms of cocaine in the New Orleans area, announced DEA Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. Following a...

MOBILE, Ala. - Today, John Patrick Couch and Xiulu Ruan were sentenced to respectively 240 months and 252 months in federal prison for running a massive pill mill in Mobile, Alabama, announced DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen G. Azzam and Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the Southern District of...

PHOENIX, Ariz. - The DEA announced the sentencing of Dale Thomas Ratcliffe, a former Doctor of Osteopathy, to 5 years’ probation and the surrender of his medical license, after Ratcliffe was indicted on multiple federal charges earlier this year. Ratcliffe plead guilty to conspiracy to furnish false information after the...

NEW ORLEANS, La. - A New Orleans man was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to participating in a heroin distribution conspiracy in the lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. Corey Celestine, age...