SEATTLE, Wash. – A Bellingham, Washington woman who was a redistributor for a fentanyl distribution ring was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Natasha Parkhill, 38, of Bellingham pleaded guilty in March 2024 and was sentenced today to 4 years in prison. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge...

ST. LOUIS – A doctor with an office in St. Louis and two employees have been indicted in U.S. District Court and accused of illegally prescribing controlled substances and health care fraud. Dr. David A. Parks, 66, James M. Bilderback, 58, both of Jefferson County, Missouri, and Michelle J. Scheer...

EUGENE, Oregon—A Bend, Oregon man was sentenced to federal prison for possessing 20 pounds of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Isaac Kitashima, 48, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release. According to court documents, from August 2020 through June 2021, Kitashima and co-conspirators...

Spokane, Washington- Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that three men are facing federal drug charges. Osvaldo Guadalupe Soto-Orduno, Jose Roman Lizarraga Gerardo, and Jose Efrain Gonzalez Rodriguez were charged by criminal complaint with Conspiracy to Distribute 400 Grams or More...

Tacoma – A former attorney from Mexico was sentenced June 21, 2024, to 90 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Gustavo Castellanos-Tapia, 38, of Burien, Washington, was a significant supplier of methamphetamine to a drug trafficking organization with ties to the...

SAN DIEGO – OptumRx Inc., a prescription drug benefit provider, has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations that it improperly filled certain opioid prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The settlement resolves an investigation initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) into whether, between April 2013...

ALBUQUERQUE – An Albuquerque man was convicted by a federal jury, after less than 30 minutes of deliberation, of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between...

SEATTLE – Law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24 search or arrest warrants taking four people into custody who are allegedly connected to a drug trafficking conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The drug conspirators have ties to...

SAN DIEGO – Palomar Health, a California public health care district located in San Diego County, has paid $250,000 to resolve allegations of diversion of fentanyl from one of its facilities and failure to keep accurate records for fentanyl. Palomar Health is California’s largest health care district, with campuses in...

POCATELLO – Richard Corey Fox, 54, and Angelina Larae Norton, 61, a couple living in Idaho Falls, were sentenced to over ten years combined for distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine in eastern Idaho, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, detectives with the BADGES Task Force initiated an...