NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – MARK FRIDGE, III (“FRIDGE”), age 22, SHYHEIM PINES (“PINES”), age 29, and KAWAIISHH BROWN (“BROWN”), age 50, all of Tangipahoa Parish, were indicted on June 28, 2024 for violations of the Federal Controlled Substances Act, including distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury, and violations...

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...

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...

SALT LAKE CITY – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) seized approximately 170,000 fentanyl pills in Utah operations last month. In less than two weeks in June, 170,000 fentanyl pills were seized across the state. This represents 25.6% of the total fentanyl pill seizures in Utah in...

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...

JOHNSTON, Iowa – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Division hosted its third annual Family Summit at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa, June 27, bringing together families from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota representing 41 loved ones lost to a fentanyl poisoning. “This is a somber day,”...

LOS ANGELES – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Los Angeles Field Division announced the sentencing of a large-scale fentanyl distributor operating within Ventura, California. Stephen Gregory Reid, 61, aka “Racer,” of Ventura, was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison. The DEA announcement, made last week, was the pinnacle point...

WASHINGTON, DC – On June 18, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division hosted their 3rd Family Summit in support of those who have lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV). In alignment with DEA's mission, the event aimed to provide opportunities...

OMAHA, Neb. – Members of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will be in Baseball Village during the College World Series ™ recruiting and providing information on the dangers of fentanyl and other drugs seen frequently in communities across the nation. The DEA booth is located on the east side of...

MIAMI– On June 10, Sudiata Stinson, 47, of Vero Beach, Fla., was sentenced to 188 months in prison for distributing a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sitting in Miami. On February 7, Stinson pleaded guilty to an indictment charging...