Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte approved the United States’ consent decree with Abtin Youssefi-Rashti, a Montgomery County based pharmacist, and Upton Care Pharmacy, Inc. (“Upton Care”), resolving the United States’ civil allegations that Youssefi-Rashti and Upton Care violated the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) in illegally dispensing...

BOSTON – Two men were convicted today by a federal jury in Boston for operating a large-scale international fentanyl trafficking and money laundering conspiracy. Fermin Castillo, 43, of Boston, and Andre Heraux Martinez, 24, of the Dominican Republic, were convicted following a seven-day jury trial of conspiracy to distribute over...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A former Fuquay-Varina nurse was sentenced today to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release for tampering with painkillers intended for surgery patients. On March 9, 2022, Melissa Elizabeth Chacona pled guilty to the charges. “Surgical patients trust healthcare providers to give them the...

MILWAUKEE - John J. McGarry, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Milwaukee, and U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on May 12, 2023, Michele Nickels. was sentenced to12 months and one day of imprisonment, to be followed by two years...

WASHINGTON – Today, ahead of the expiration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued the “Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications” – a temporary rule that extends telemedicine flexibilities...

BILLINGS, Mt. — Ten people were arrested on allegations of trafficking methamphetamine on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations and in Yellowstone, Big Horn and Rosebud counties earlier this month. Seven defendants face charges in a multi-count indictment alleging meth trafficking, firearms and money laundering crimes. Four additional defendants...

BOSTON – A Colombian man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy connected with organized crime in the Republic of Colombia. Mario Zapata Velez, 41, of Medellín, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A U.S. District Court judge sentenced an East St. Louis man to 16 years and six months in prison after he pled guilty to several drug charges for his involvement in a national trafficking ring as the Metro East St. Louis leader. Jeffrey Taylor, 40...

CHICAGO — The wives of convicted drug traffickers Pedro Flores and Margarito Flores have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. VIVIANNA LOPEZ, also known as “Mia Flores,” 42, and VALERIE GAYTAN, also known as “Olivia Flores,” 47, both confirmed in their plea agreements that...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Two men have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine in the Springfield, Mo., area. Christian Roman, 39, of Springfield, and Nathan Bay, 49, of Bois D’Arc, Mo., were sentenced in separate hearings before U.S. District Judge...