SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Joplin, Mo., physician pleaded guilty in federal court today to providing false information in order to receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to which she was not entitled. Heather D. Stelling, 55, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced a man from St. Louis County to 25 years in prison for a retaliatory drug murder in 2020. Cevone Weeden, now 26, fired at least 12 shots at Joel Phillips, 22, in the parking lot of a McDonald’s...

ST. LOUIS - A man from St. Louis County on Tuesday admitted selling roughly a pound of methamphetamine per week and now faces up to 20 years in prison. Justin Vernon Neilsen, 38, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to one felony count of distribution...

ST. LOUIS – This week the Drug Enforcement Administration hosted regional family summits across the country in support of those who have lost loved ones to drug poisonings. The DEA St. Louis Division hosted its summit Nov. 16, at the Church of the Resurrection, in Leawood, Kansas. The St. Louis...

PHOENIX – On Oct. 29, 2022, communities across the country demonstrated their continued support for DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by safely disposing of more than 647,000 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country. Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s National Prescription...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Three Eastern Jackson County men have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Kenneth James Paulson, 51, of Blue Springs, Mo., pleaded guilty Nov. 16 to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from Aug. 11 to Oct. 14...

ST. LOUIS - A man from St. Louis admitted participating in a 2017 murder on behalf of a drug gang. Tremayne Silas, 30, admitted being one of four men who fired more than 100 rounds at Alexander Noodel on May 8, 2017. Silas and the others were responding to a...

ST. LOUIS – The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division broke its fentanyl seizure record in fiscal year 2022 with more than 671 pounds of the deadly opioid seized through Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois. That’s a 41% increase over the 396 pounds seized in the last fiscal year, and...

PHOENIX – On September 28, 2022, a grand jury in Phoenix, Arizona, returned a 34-count indictment against nine individuals, including: Yvette Porras-Ochoa, 40, of Wittmann, Arizona Ricardo Ochoa, 41, of Mesa, Arizona Kourtney Moore, 40, of Akron, Ohio George Martinez-Aviles, M.D., 55, of Peoria, Arizona Vanessa Quijada, 36, of Phoenix...

ST. LOUIS - Two men pleaded guilty Wednesday and admitted trying to pick up 100 pounds of methamphetamine that was being brought to the St. Louis area from Colorado. Demond Benard McDaniels Jr., 26, of St. Charles, and Dawuane Lamont Rhodes Jr., 25, of St. Louis, each pleaded guilty in...