WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a ceremony today at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., DEA Chief of Operations D. Christopher Evans was appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr to the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. On Oct. 28, 2019, President Donald J. Trump...

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Drug Enforcement Administration yesterday announced that a member of a large drug trafficking organization was sentenced. Byron A. Lawson, age 40, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced as part of Operation Hidden Fee, an extensive federal, state, and local investigation by the Middle District Organized...

SAN DIEGO – Egisto Salerno, a medical doctor practicing in San Diego, pleaded guilty to opioid distribution in federal court today, admitting that he signed bogus prescriptions for multiple deceased or incarcerated patients. According to his plea agreement, Salerno, 75, illegally distributed 78,544 hydrocodone pills. Hydrocodone is an opioid pain...

FRESNO, Calif . — The Medicine Chest Pharmacy in Fresno has agreed to pay $27,500 to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott and DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux announced today. The settlement was reached in October, the sale of...

SEATTLE -- A Skagit County resident who operated businesses in Burlington and Sedro Woolley, Washington was sentenced on Jan. 17, 2020, in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 18 months in prison for his role in knowingly laundering cash drug proceeds for a drug cartel. Orlando Barajas, 41, owns and...

ST. LOUIS – Angela K. Williams, M.D., 34, of Brentwood, Missouri, pleaded guilty today to one felony charge of fraudulently obtaining oxycodone, a narcotic opioid prescription drug. This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division, the Florissant Police Department, the Town and Country Police Department, and...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Francisco Alarcon Badillo, 28, a citizen of Mexico, pled guilty on Jan. 17 to selling crystal methamphetamine while employed at the Saratoga Race Course. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith; DEA New York Division Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan and Saratoga...

DALLAS – DEA Dallas Division Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chavez and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey S. Berman announced today the unsealing of four indictments charging Miguel Cespedes, Omar Mogollon, Luis Felipe Gonzalez Arcila, Ivan Rojas Acosta, Alex Barrera Forero and David...

BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr., and DEA New York Division Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan announced today that Quinton Jones, 40, of Buffalo, who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, five kilograms or more of cocaine, was sentenced to...

WASHINGTON – Last week, DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon visited Beijing, China. Acting Administrator Dhillon met with Chinese officials from the General Administration of Customs, the National Narcotics Laboratory, and the National Narcotics Control Commission, including Vice Commissioner Liu Yuejin. As a welcome to China, the Ministry of Public Security...