Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III sentenced Vashawn Watkins, age 22, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to nine years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for federal charges of illegal possession of a firearm in a school zone and possession with intent to...

EL PASO, Texas – A federal jury convicted two men Tuesday of multiple counts of drug trafficking. Additionally, one of the defendants was convicted of domestic and international money laundering. Jorge Sanchez-Morales aka “Capulina,” 47, was convicted of two counts of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute; two counts...

SEATTLE- Two men who served as drug runners for a Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) cartel connected drug trafficking organization were sentenced to prison following an extensive wiretap investigation. In sentencing 28-year-old Armando Fierro-Ponce to eight years in prison, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour noted that he had acted...

CHICAGO — Robert J. Bell, Special Agent in Charge of Drug Enforcement Administration-Chicago Field Division, and U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr., of the Northern District fof Illinois announced that a federal judge has sentenced a suburban Chicago man to seven years in federal prison for laundering illegal narcotics proceeds...

WASHINGTON –Five area men have been indicted on federal narcotics and firearms-related charges stemming from an ongoing investigation into a drug trafficking organization that operated outside a gas station and within 1,000 feet of a school on South Capitol Street. The indictment was announced today by U.S. Attorney Matthew M...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A 54-year-old man has been sent to federal prison following his conviction of trafficking 75 kilograms of cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery. Legusta Juaquim Rodan, De Valls Bluff, Arkansas, pleaded guilty...

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Abdallah Amer Ali, 21, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, was sentenced today to 13 years in federal prison after selling a fatal dose of fentanyl to a 16-year-old in Harrisonburg. Ali pleaded guilty in June 2022 to one count of distributing a measurable quantity of fentanyl. “In 2021, more...

ST. LOUIS – The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division broke its fentanyl seizure record in fiscal year 2022 with more than 671 pounds of the deadly opioid seized through Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois. That’s a 41% increase over the 396 pounds seized in the last fiscal year, and...

PHOENIX – On September 28, 2022, a grand jury in Phoenix, Arizona, returned a 34-count indictment against nine individuals, including: Yvette Porras-Ochoa, 40, of Wittmann, Arizona Ricardo Ochoa, 41, of Mesa, Arizona Kourtney Moore, 40, of Akron, Ohio George Martinez-Aviles, M.D., 55, of Peoria, Arizona Vanessa Quijada, 36, of Phoenix...

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven sentenced Virginia Garcia Moreta (35, Tampa) and Hector Rodriguez Mendez (47, Tampa) to 70 and 63 months in federal prison, respectively, for conspiring to commit money laundering. As part of their sentences, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in...