EUGENE, Ore. - Juan Jesus Chavez-Salazar, 26, of Lane County, Oregon, was sentenced on July 23, 2013, to 168 months in prison for conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine. Upon his release from prison, he will be placed on supervised release for five years. Chavez-Salazar and his associates were the...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - On July 25, 2013, a grand jury returned two additional drug conspiracy indictments stemming from the same investigation that resulted in charges against numerous members of an Anchorage based rap group back in August of 2012. That indictment alleged a conspiracy to distribute over 50 kilograms of...

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...

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...

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...

JULY 09 - ANCHORAGE, Alaska - On July 1, 2013, after deliberating for four hours, a jury of four men and eight women found California gang member Richard Melvin Corum, 30, guilty of drug conspiracy and witness tampering. According the evidence presented at trial, from April 2010 through January 2011...

SEATTLE - Today,a Whatcom County man who ran a drug distribution network was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Todd Hamilton, 36, of Bellingham ran the area’s most widespread and prolific drug trafficking organization using violence and threats of violence to impose his will. At sentencing U.S. District Judge...