FLORENCE, S.C. — Demetrius Stepp, 45, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to three counts of distributing fentanyl and crack cocaine. Evidence presented to the court showed that on three occasions in April and May 2022, a confidential informant...

TUCSON, Ariz. – German Montano-Peralta, 33, of Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced on May 12, 2025, by United States District Judge Angela Martinez to 88 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Montano-Peralta previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl and Methamphetamine. On April 30, 2024...

COLUMBUS, Ga. – A Columbus resident, arrested and prosecuted under the multi-agency law enforcement effort called Operation Sweet Silence, confessed to leading a major drug trafficking conspiracy in the community and agreed to serve 20 years in prison under a binding plea agreement with the final two co-defendants entering guilty...

ST. LOUIS – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) St. Louis Division joined forces with law enforcement agencies across Kansas, Missouri and Southern Illinois to safely dispose of 33,840 pounds of unneeded and expired medications at the 28th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, April 26. Nationally, more than 620,000 pounds...

WASHINGTON D.C. – DEA and nearly 4,500 law enforcement agencies joined forces last month to dispose of more than 620,000 pounds of unneeded and expired medications in an effort to prevent drug misuse and abuse. The spring collection event marked DEA’s 28th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Locally, the...

LOS ANGELES – A South Bay man pleaded guilty today to selling dozens of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills to a drug dealer who later sold them to a victim who soon afterward suffered a fatal overdose in January 2020. Marcus Michael Takaya Poydras, 36, of Redondo Beach, pleaded guilty to...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Arizona residents turned in 6,257 pounds of unused medications during DEA’s 28th National Drug Take Back Day on April 26, 2025. Nationwide, 620,000 pounds of unused medications were turned in at nearly 4500 collection sites in effort to prevent drug misuse and abuse. Since its inception 16...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and Acting U.S. Attorney Tina L. Nommay for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Timothy Hampton, 50, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a man who sold the fentanyl that killed two twin brothers in St. Charles County in 2023 to 14 years in prison. Jesse Charleston, 35, of Florissant, pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in St. Louis...

WASHINGTON – DEA and nearly 4,500 law enforcement agencies joined forces last month to dispose of more than 620,000 pounds of unneeded and expired medications in an effort to prevent drug misuse and abuse. The spring collection event marked DEA’s 28th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Since its inception...