SAN FRANCISCO – Kia Zolfaghari pleaded guilty today to charges regarding his role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, as well as to related weapons and money laundering charges, announced U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson and DEA Special Agent in Charge Chris Nielsen. The plea was accepted by Senior United...

NEW YORK - Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Ernesto Lopez, a New York-licensed medical doctor who wrote thousands of medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone and fentanyl over an approximately three-year period, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to...

DENVER – In December of 2018, the Longmont Department of Public Safety Special Enforcement Unit began looking into the drug distribution activities of Joshua Ward, who resided in the city of Longmont. Utilizing various law enforcement investigative techniques, Longmont SEU identified numerous subjects in the northern Colorado region who were...

MIAMI – Seven individuals, listed below, were arrested in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties in connection to the operation and dismantlement of a large-scale prescription drug distribution organization: Olga Alterman, 49; Ronald Diaz, 46; Alexander Grichener, 65; Roman Grichener, 37; Vera Orenshteyn, 48; William Washington, 58; and Alberto Zisman...

DENVER – John Van Wu, 49, of Golden, pleaded guilty today to one count of distributing oxycodone outside the usual course of medical practice and for no legitimate purpose, announced U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn and DEA Denver Division Special Agent in Charge William McDermott. The plea was accepted by U.S...

DETROIT – A Detroit-area doctor was sentenced to 60 months in prison today for his role in a scheme to unlawfully distribute more than 23,000 pills of oxycodone. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan...

CAMDEN, N.J. – DEA New Jersey Division Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Craig Carpenito announced a Pennsylvania woman was sentenced today to 19 months in prison for unlawfully distributing prescription opioid pain medication in the Philadelphia and South Jersey...

SAVANNAH, Ga. – A physician with clinics in Pooler, Ga., and Braselton, Ga., was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison for illegally prescribing drugs to non-patients. Dr. Johnny Di Blasi , 46, of Braselton, Ga., was sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to...

Tallahassee, Fla. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment, unsealed today, charging eight defendants with 83 counts of federal dogfighting offenses stemming from an investigation into drug trafficking and a large-scale illegal dogfighting operation involving approximately 100 dogs. Most of the dogs used by the defendants were recovered by...

PORTLAND, Ore.—Osasuyi Kenneth Idumwonyi, 58, of Houston, Texas was sentenced on June 3, 2019, to 108 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for illegally distributing opioids. According to court documents, in January 2015, Idumwonyi along with codefendant and former nurse practitioner Julie Ann DeMille opened the Fusion...