FRESNO, Calif. - Catatea James, 47, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to aiding and abetting structuring, Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Structuring is splitting up bank deposits to keep them under a $10,000 threshold in order to avoid the...

FRESNO, Calif.) - Three marijuana cultivators in Fresno County pleaded guilty and one was sentenced today for their involvement in separate large-scale marijuana cultivation operations in Fresno County, Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. 1,429 Marijuana Plants Seized in Squaw (Case...

(NEW ORLEANS) - - Jeffrey Michele, 43; Leslie McMorris, 55; and Sam Michele, III,40, all residents of Tangipahoa Parish, were indicted today by a federal Grand Jury on two counts involving cocaine conspiracy and distribution charges occurring in Tangipahoa Parish. The investigation, conducted by the New Orleans Field Division DEA...

FRESNO, Calif. - The owner of two commercial office buildings in Bakersfield has paid $1,675,000 to the United States to resolve claims that the buildings were used to house marijuana retail stores and large-scale indoor marijuana cultivation operations, Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment today, charging San Jose residents Jose Angel Martinez Chairez, 38; Angel Avilio Martinez-Diaz, 26; Jose Maria Villareal, 24; and Sunnyvale resident Jose Luis Ramirez Verduzco, 27, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a federal grand jury returned a multi-count indictment yesterday charging John Wesley Lane, 33, and Kelsey Ann Lane, 26, both of Anderson, California, with manufacturing and distributing...

(NEW ORLEANS) - - Norman Ratcliff, aka “Turk,” 21, a resident of New Orleans, pled guilty today in federal court to various federal violations stemming from a 34 count second superseding indictment. Ratcliffand several of his associates were charged with participating in a violent drug gang that operated in the...

(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) - - Acting Special Agent in Charge Joseph W. Shepherd and William J. Bryant, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock District Office of the Drug Enforcement (DEA), along with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today that seven individuals...

FRESNO, Calif. - Gonzalo Esquivel, aka Gunner, 34, and Efren Steve Jiminez, aka Grande, 33, both of Los Banos; Kenneth Hernandez, aka Kenny, 30, of Dos Palos; Gustavo Moreno, aka Gus Gus, 33, and David Torres, 33, both of Madera pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine before the...

FRESNO, Calif. - Sergio Hector Aguilar, aka Sergio Perez, 46, of Bakersfield, Calif., was sentenced today to 7 years and 10 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and committing this crime while under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for...