HOUSTON – As 2022 comes to an end, the Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Field Division is announcing the seizure of over 670,000 fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills and more than 230 pounds of fentanyl powder this year. The DEA Laboratory estimates that these seizures represent more than 7 million potentially deadly...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Robeson County woman was sentenced Dec. 21, 2022 to 300 months in prison for conspiring to distribute four hundred grams or more of fentanyl and for possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On April 7, 2022, Jania Delicia Leggett, 28, pled guilty to...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis County, Missouri, man involved in a fentanyl distribution ring to 20 years in prison. Anthony “Peta Man” Caldwell, 27, was the final defendant to be sentenced out of 11 people who distributed multiple kilograms of...

WASHINGTON – As 2022 comes to an end, the Drug Enforcement Administration is announcing the seizure of over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder this calendar year. The DEA Laboratory estimates that these seizures represent more than 379 million potentially deadly doses...

SAN DIEGO - Dr. David J. Smith, a pain management physician, and his office manager, Julia Ann Oertle, are charged in a federal grand-jury indictment with perpetuating a long-running scheme to commit healthcare fraud and to manufacture and distribute adulterated fentanyl. Smith made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate...

DENVER –Today the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division hosted its first Family Summit in support of those who have lost loved ones to the drug poisoning and overdose epidemic. This is the first undertaking of its kind for the division, building off the momentum of this summer’s Inaugural Family...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Late yesterday, in federal court in Central Islip, an 18-count indictment was returned charging Dr. Roya Jafari-Hassad with illegal distribution of oxycodone and witness tampering. Hassad was arrested this morning and is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Steven L. Tiscione. Breon...

MANHATTAN – Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the indictments of nine individuals, including Tribeca physician Dr. Noel Smith, for charges including conspiring to distribute tens of thousands of prescription pills, including opioids and other controlled substances, in Manhattan and Staten Island. The defendants allegedly operated a...

BOSTON – Northeast Hospital Corporation (Northeast), part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, has agreed to pay $1.9 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that Northeast violated the Controlled Substance Act (the CSA) by failing to keep accurate records of controlled substances, including opioids. The CSA requires accurate inventorying and...

PHOENIX – On Oct. 29, 2022, communities across the country demonstrated their continued support for DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by safely disposing of more than 647,000 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country. Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s National Prescription...