WASHINGTON - On Friday the U. S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) will publish in the Federal Register the Final Rule moving hydrocodone combination (HCPs) from Schedule III to the more-restrictive Schedule II, as recommended by the Assistant Secretary for Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human (HHS) and as...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - On August 19, 2014, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment against 16 defendants charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The...

BOSTON - Two Cape Cod men with extensive criminal histories were arrested and charged today with conspiring to violate federal drug laws. Michael J. Ferguson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent...

COLUMBIA, S.C. - United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Lance C. Tew, age 26, of Greer, Jessica R. Hollingsworth, age 24, of Taylors, and Mary Virginia Merritt, age 42, of Greer, were sentenced today in federal court in Greenville, for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, a violation of Title...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Jimmy Cournoyer, the leader of a massive international drug trafficking enterprise with ties to La Cosa Nostra, the Hells Angels, and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, was sentenced earlier today to 27 years in prison by the Hon. Raymond J. Dearie. Cournoyer previously pleaded guilty to...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Alejo Polanco was sentenced today to 27 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release by United States District Judge Raymond J. Dearie at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. In August 2013, following a two-week trial, Polanco and co-defendant Emilino Vasquez were convicted...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Earlier today at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, John Venizelos, also known as “John V,” “Big Man,” and “John from Staten Island,” an alleged associate of the Bonanno organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra, was sentenced to 11 years in prison to be followed...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Earlier today, Jair Estupinan-Montano was arraigned at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, on charges relating to international narcotics trafficking. Estupinan- Montano was arrested in Panama on October 14, 2013, on a provisional arrest warrant issued from the Eastern District of New York. The arraignment was...

PHOENIX - On Aug. 18, 2014, Luis Enrique Villegas-Lugo, 40, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silverto 17.5 years in prison. Villegas-Lugo pleaded guilty on Feb. 25, 2014 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, a...

DALLAS - A Dallas man who pleaded guilty to felony offenses stemming from his role as a major participant in a marijuana distribution conspiracy operating in north Texas was sentenced this morning in federal court in Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Andres...