ST. LOUIS – A man from Hazelwood, Missouri, admitted on Tuesday to selling fentanyl that killed a Lake St. Louis, Missouri, man last year. Stephen Paul Jefferson Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to a felony charge of distribution of fentanyl. Jefferson admitted...

ST. LOUIS – Two men from St. Louis County pleaded guilty Monday and admitted their involvement in a retaliatory murder in 2020. Cevone Weeden, 26, pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to two counts: conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled...

WAYCROSS, Ga. – The lead defendant in a Waycross-area fentanyl and heroin trafficking operation has now pled guilty, joining the other five defendants who admitted their roles in the conspiracy. Eric Lashawn Hayes, a/k/a “Pee Wee,” 28, of Blackshear, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm...

SEATTLE – A top leader of a violent international drug trafficking organization that distributed heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine in the Puget Sound region, pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Luis Arturo Magana-Ramirez, 34, of Fife, Washington, faces a mandatory minimum ten years in prison and up...

BUFFALO, NY - United States Attorney for the Western District of New York Trini E. Ross announced today that Steven Gonzalez aka Steven Hernandez, aka Steve, aka Stevie, aka Unc, 46, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Richard J. Arcara to narcotics conspiracy. The charge carries...

SAN DIEGO – Kaylar Junior Tawan Beltranlap of San Diego pleaded guilty today to distributing a fake pill containing fentanyl that killed a 15-year-old Coronado High School sophomore, referred to in court records as C.J.S., on May 12, 2021. During the change of plea hearing, Beltranlap admitted to utilizing his...

BOISE, Idaho – On Friday, July 1, 2022, Dakota James Hoffman, 29, of Bellevue, Idaho, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for distribution of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced. According to court records, Hoffman distributed oxycodone pills to a man with the initials A.K. who overdosed on...

SEATTLE – The Arlington, Washington based leader of a prolific and violent drug trafficking ring pleaded guilty this week to federal drug, gun, and money laundering crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and carrying...

SAN DIEGO – Cole Thomas Salazar pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied a fatal dose of fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 24-year-old woman who was found inside her Vista apartment on November 3, 2020. According to his plea agreement, Salazar used an online...

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Abdallah Amer Ali, 21, of Harrisonburg, sold a fatal dose of fentanyl to a 16-year-old in Harrisonburg and pled guilty to one count of distributing a measurable quantity of fentanyl which resulted in death. “With overdose deaths on a rampant rise across the country, we often focus...