TAMPA, Fla. – Six individuals who are part of the Fernando Pineda-Jimenez Transnational Criminal Organization have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a conspiracy to distribute cocaine using vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States (U.S.). Fernando Pineda-Jimenez, a/k/a “Padrino,” 40, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy...

LUBBOCK, TX - Forty defendants – including 15 arrested in Wednesday’s “Operation Taste the Rainbow” in Lubbock – have been charged with gun and drug crimes, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. The men and women, all allegedly tied to methamphetamine trafficking in and around Lubbock, have been charged in...

DALLAS – A Mexican national and high-ranking member of the Los Zetas cartel received a life sentence for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez today. Hugo Cesar Roman-Chavarria, also known as “El Vecino,” pleaded guilty on August 23...

MIAMI – Clarence G. Kelley, III, a/k/a “Kemp,” 42, of Lake Worth, Florida, was sentenced by a federal district judge in West Palm Beach to a mandatory term of five years in prison for possessing with the intent to distribute more than a kilogram of cocaine. In March 2021, law...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alfred A. Cooke III, Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay of the Northern District of Indiana announced that Corey Harris, 26, of Danville, Illinois, was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by five years...

PEORIA, Ill. – Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Bell, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Chicago Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Douglas J. Quivey of the Central District of Illinois announced that Harold Shane Koch, 42, of Pekin, Illinois, was sentenced on Sept. 9, 2021, to 20 years in federal prison, to...

Baltimore, Md., – Reginald Leon Bolden, age 37, of Harford County, Maryland, and Tremayne Gerrad Murphy, age 40, of Harford County, Maryland pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to distribute cocaine base. The guilty pleas were announced by Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Washingtong Division Acting United...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Javier Jaquez, 50, of Albuquerque, was sentenced on Aug. 26 to 32 years in federal prison. On Sept. 18, 2020, Jaquez pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 100 grams and more of heroin, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being...

PECOS, Texas – A federal jury convicted a Dallas man last Thursday for possessing methamphetamine. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Oscar Santiago Garcia Sanchez, 32, drove a vehicle with a trailer filled with ceramic art pieces into the Presidio Port of Entry. During inspection, Customs and...

Baltimore, Md., – Tirrel Saunders, a/k/a “Pretty”, age 35, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Saunders was a member of the Gregory Butler Drug Trafficking Organization (“Butler DTO”) which distributed heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The...