SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An indictment was unsealed today charging Honduran national Abner Estrada Cruz, 25, with conspiracy to distribute at least 400 grams fentanyl and seven counts of distributing fentanyl, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced. Estrada Cruz was...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment this week charging three Kodiak residents with drug trafficking crimes in Alaska, including distributing fentanyl which resulted in a fatal overdose. According to court documents, between February 2022 and July 2023, Ashley Katelnikoff, 37, and Gerry Pugal, 37...

FRESNO, Calif. — Christian Gonzalez, 25, of Fresno, was sentenced today to six years and eight months in prison for distributing fentanyl, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris and Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced. According to court documents, on July 20, 2020, Gonzalez knowingly distributed...

OAKLAND, Calif. – Jose Luis Garcia, the co-owner of Envios Express, a money transmitting business in Oakland, was sentenced this week to 12 months in federal prison. The Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., United States District Judge, handed down the sentence on Jan. 15, 2025. Garcia, 57, of Oakland, was...

SEATTLE – Five Seattle-area men are in custody following a grand jury indictment for their drug trafficking activity in Seattle’s homeless encampments and International District, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The men are charged federally and have made their initial appearances over the last few days. “We are all...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The United States has filed a civil complaint against nurse practitioner Joan Rubinger, registered in Stockton, that alleges a long-running nationwide scheme to sell illegal opioid prescriptions for cash, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced. The...

BOISE, Idaho – Jerilyn Martel Hupp, 33, of Boise, pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl in a case involving a fatality, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Hupp sold ten fentanyl pills to a man she met online, who subsequently died after ingesting half of a pill containing illicit fentanyl...

SAN FRANCISCO – The government of Honduras extradited Gustavo Erazo, a Honduran national, to the United States this week to appear on charges stemming from his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in the San Francisco Bay Area. The extradition marks the sixth extradition of...

SEATTLE- This holiday season, full of travel and family gatherings, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Seattle Division is urging communities across the Pacific Northwest to make the most of this time together by having conversations about the dangers of fentanyl. Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our nation has ever...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ronald Yandell, 62, of Pinole, and William Sylvester, 56, of Norco, were each sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to two consecutive life terms in prison for murder in aid of racketeering and various other RICO-related crimes, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge...