NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – SAUL MACEDO-RODRIGUEZ (“MACEDO-RODRIGUEZ”), age 38, a resident of Texas, was sentenced on April 30, 2025, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of...

BRUNSWICK, GA: A jury convicted a Mexican national illegally living in Hazlehurst, Georgia at trial for receiving a package from Jalisco, Mexico containing over two kilograms of 100% pure methamphetamine. Ismael Delgado-Celis, 37, of Mexico, was convicted of Possession and Attempt to Possess with Intent to Distribute 500 grams or...

WASHINGTON — Two Chinese nationals and a California man, all members of a prolific Chinese money laundering organization (CMLO), pleaded guilty yesterday to money laundering charges involving drug trafficking proceeds. According to court documents, Maoxuan Xia, 29, of China, Shao Neng Lin, 58, of Baldwin Park, California, and Zhou Yu...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Kelly Woodrow Ross, 64, of Waynesville, N.C., was sentenced today to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to court documents and court proceedings, in November 2023...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and Acting U.S. Attorney Tina L. Nommay for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Willie J. Hatch, 32, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Holly...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Armando Puentes-Melendez, 38, of Mexico, was sentenced on April 24, 2025, by United States District Judge Scott H. Rash to 60 months in prison. Puentes-Melendez previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. On January 18, 2024, law enforcement agents intercepted a drug transaction involving over 100...

TUCSON, Ariz. – Adrian Lopez-Aparicio, 40, of Mexico, was sentenced on April 24, 2025, by United States District Judge Scott H. Rash to 41 months in prison. Lopez-Aparicio previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. On October 3, 2024, Lopez-Aparicio was found in possession...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Timario Gayton, 33 and Quonzy Hope, 36, both of Rock Hill, were each sentenced to 15 years in federal after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. Evidence presented to the court showed that in August 2022, Hope...

Paducah, KY – A federal grand jury in Paducah returned an indictment on March 11, 2025, charging a Hopkinsville, Kentucky man with distributing methamphetamine. U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott of the DEA Louisville Field Division, Special Agent in...

NEW BERN, N.C. – A Wilson man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for charges related to the sale of narcotics and possession of a firearm by convicted felon. Navon Shemar Freeman, 24, pled guilty on November 11, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent...