FRESNO, Calif. - Two federal indictments were returned today in two separate cases originating from Kern County involving large quantities of controlled substances, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Cocaine Case In the first case...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a single count indictment today, charging Benjamin Soto, 37, and Joaquin Soto, 18, both of San Jose, with possession with the intent to distribute heroin, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B...

EUGENE, Ore. - Denise Richardson, 47, of Roseburg, Oregon, was sentenced to prison for stealing narcotics from the Roseburg Veteran’s Affairs Hospital. Richardson is a former pharmacy technician at the Veteran’s Affairs Hospital. Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken sentenced Richardson to 24 months in prison and ordered her to...

FRESNO, Calif. - Brothers Edwan Dablan, 37, of Kingsburg, and Khamal Dablan, 25, of Selma, pleaded guilty on Monday to participating in a long-term methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Edwan Dablan also pleaded...

FRESNO, Calif. - On January 28, 2013, U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced David Chavez Jr., 32, of Bakersfield, to four years in prison for using a communication (telephone) in connection with a drug trafficking offense. He pleaded guilty on September 24, 2012. As part of the plea agreement...

FRESNO, Calif. - Joseph Edwin Gable, aka Mike Jones, 42, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to structuring proceeds derived from an interstate drug trafficking operation, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. According to court documents, Gable acknowledged...

POCATELLO, Idaho - Jose Tapia-Lopez, 29, a Mexican national formerly living in Heyburn, Idaho, was sentenced today in United States District Court to 168 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Tapia-Lopez was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Floyd Everett Harshman, 54, of Fairbanks, Alaska was sentenced in federal court for three counts of drug trafficking and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crimes. Harshman was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Charles Miller Hilkey Jr., 58, of the Nevada City area, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton in connection with the cultivation of marijuana and structuring cash transactions to avoid reporting requirements, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano...

FRESNO, Calif.) - Two large-scale marijuana cultivators in Kern County entered guilty pleas and two cultivators in Kings and Fresno Counties were sentenced today in federal court, Acting Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Guilty Plea in Federal Wiretap...