SAN DIEGO – OptumRx Inc., a prescription drug benefit provider, has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations that it improperly filled certain opioid prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The settlement resolves an investigation initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) into whether, between April 2013...

PORTLAND, Oregon.—The leader of an international drug trafficking organization operating in Lane County, Oregon, responsible for trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine into the state between 2018 and 2020, was sentenced to federal prison today. Victor Diaz-Ramirez, 33, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison and five...

POCATELLO – U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced the sentences for two separate East Idaho methamphetamine traffickers who will serve a collective 21.5 years in federal prison. Fredy Munoz-Morales, a/k/a Fredi Munoz-Morales, 36, a Mexican citizen and national, was sentenced to 12.5 years in federal prison for possession with intent to...

BOISE – Tanner Lee Goforth, 38, of Nampa, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for selling a co-worker fentanyl that led to his overdose death, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, on May 17, 2022, Goforth met his friend and co-worker, the victim, at...

BOISE – Justin Pedersen, 43, of Kuna, was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for distribution of methamphetamine in the Treasure Valley, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, between November and December 2023, Pedersen distributed methamphetamine to another person on four separate occasions, totaling 309...

SEATTLE – Law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24 search or arrest warrants taking four people into custody who are allegedly connected to a drug trafficking conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The drug conspirators have ties to...

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that two individuals have been charged with murder in connection with the fentanyl overdose death of 31-year-old Connor Gerhart. Defendants Sheri Cavanaugh, 59, and her co-conspirator, Micah Seau, 31, are both charged with murder and conspiracy to commit a crime. The...

SAN DIEGO – Palomar Health, a California public health care district located in San Diego County, has paid $250,000 to resolve allegations of diversion of fentanyl from one of its facilities and failure to keep accurate records for fentanyl. Palomar Health is California’s largest health care district, with campuses in...

POCATELLO – Richard Corey Fox, 54, and Angelina Larae Norton, 61, a couple living in Idaho Falls, were sentenced to over ten years combined for distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine in eastern Idaho, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, detectives with the BADGES Task Force initiated an...

SAN DIEG O - Former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Hector Hernandez, who admitted that he took bribes to smuggle methamphetamine and people across the U.S.-Mexico border while on duty, was sentenced in federal court today to 87-months in prison. Hernandez pleaded guilty in January, admitting that he agreed to use...