SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Erlan Eduardo Cruz-Acosta was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison for illegal reentry following removal, distribution of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Senior U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick handed down the sentence. Cruz-Acosta, 41, a national of Honduras, was indicted...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A U.S. citizen deeply enmeshed in an international drug smuggling conspiracy was sentence in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison. Just over a year ago, law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24...

FRESNO, Calif. — Jose Miguel Perez, 42, of Corona, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff to 11 years and three months in prison for possessing more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and more than 1 kilogram heroin with intent to distribute, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith...

Spokane, Wash. – Jose Efrain Gonzalez-Rodriguez, age 24, of Mexico, who was unlawfully present in the United States, was sentenced after pleading guilty to drug trafficking and firearm charges. United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice imposed a sentence of 120 months in prison to be followed by 5 years...

Seattle – Fourteen people were indicted in late May and eleven were taken into custody in coordinated arrests last week as part of an ongoing investigation of drug traffickers with ties to drug trafficking in Seattle’s International District and homeless encampments, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. The defendants...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Jamar Deontae Barnes, 43, of Stockton, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to 16 years and eight months in prison for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute pills laced with fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other drugs, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine-laced pills, Acting U.S...

FRESNO, Calif. — Jose Miguel Perez, 42, of Corona, pleaded guilty to cocaine and heroin trafficking, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced. According to court documents, Perez was pulled over by law enforcement officers while driving north on Interstate...

ALBUQUERQUE – An Arizona man was sentenced to 14 years in prison for drug trafficking and firearms offenses following his arrest at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in New Mexico in 2023. There is no parole in the federal system. According to court documents, on April 27, 2023, David Maldonado...

TACOMA, Wash. – A key member of a drug distribution ring selling fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, and heroin throughout the Puget Sound region was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 14 years in prison for his role in the conspiracy and for possessing firearms in furtherance of drug...

TACOMA, Wash. – A 32-year-old Renton, Washington resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 13 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring connected to Aryan prison gangs, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Shawn Ellis was arrested in March 2023, when...