EL PASO – On Sunday, August 21, the Drug Enforcement Administration will recognize National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day by joining the many voices dedicated to educating the public on the serious dangers of fentanyl poisoning from fake pills and other illicit drugs. DEA supports the efforts of several organizations...

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – DEA Special Agent in Charge, Eduardo A. Chávez announced Attorney General John O’Connor filed charges in Oklahoma County against a couple in the death of their 6-year-old son. Harold Belton, 47, and Grashaunda Brooks, 44, are each charged with one count of second-degree murder. Investigators note...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Sterling Bastin, 56, of Wawaka, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady on his...

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Marvin Antonio Lantigua, 31, of New York City pled guilty today to possessing with intent to distribute a kilogram of fentanyl, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division, and...

MADISON, Wis. – John G. McGarry, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Wisconsin, and U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Chai Vang, 40, St. Paul, Minnesota, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 8 ½ years...

INDIANAPOLIS – Michael J. Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Indianapolis, and U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana announced that Julius Johnson, 44, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with the intent...

BUFFALO, N.Y.-Denver Komenda, 47, Jamestown, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 400 grams or more of fentanyl. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a...

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Sean Robert Wathen, 50, was sentenced in United States District Court for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Wathen to 138 months in prison and ordered him to serve an additional five years of supervised release. According to court records and...

YAKIMA, Wash. – Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that a federal grand jury has indicted Susen Ann Gorst, age 34, of Toppenish, Washington. The federal indictment charges Gorst with Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl, Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine...

NEW YORK CITY – Ariel Tavarez, a/k/a “A,” a/k/a “Mike,” was sentenced to 264 months in prison in connection with his conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, and a fentanyl analogue, and to distributing narcotics that caused the 2018 death of Colin Kroll, the co-founder of the video hosting service...