Baltimore, Md., – Tirrel Saunders, a/k/a “Pretty”, age 35, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Saunders was a member of the Gregory Butler Drug Trafficking Organization (“Butler DTO”) which distributed heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The...

Dallas - The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has agreed to pay $4.5 million to resolve allegations that its violations of the Controlled Substances Act allowed hospital staff to divert fentanyl and other dangerous drugs from the hospital, announced DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Eduardo A. Chávez. The...

COEUR D’ALENE – Dr. Eric Benson, an internist practicing medicine in Post Falls, Idaho, agreed to pay $110,000 to resolve allegations that he unlawfully prescribed opioids and other controlled substances to patients between 2014-2021. The settlement, which was based in part on Dr. Benson’s ability to pay, also restricts the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Physician Edmund Kemprud, 78, of Dublin, was convicted today of 14 counts of illegally prescribing opioids and other controlled substances patients, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to evidence presented at trial, Kemprud was a physician licensed to practice medicine in California and worked in...

Thank you and good morning. Thank you to ONDCP and to all the federal partners with whom we have been working on this important issue. This is a critical moment in our country. DEA’s mission is to keep American communities safe and healthy and we are in the midst of...

ATLANTA - Thomas Ukoshovbera A. Gbenedio has been convicted by a federal jury of illegally dispensing and distributing controlled substances from his pharmacy. “Removing and ultimately eliminating healthcare providers who unlawfully dispense pharmaceutical products for non-medical reasons is an important part of DEA’s mission,” said Special Agent in Charge of...

Washington, D.C., – The DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, removed close to 745,000 pounds of unneeded prescriptions from medicine cabinets across the country this past Saturday, October 23rd, as part of DEA’s ongoing commitment to turn the tide against the U.S. opioid epidemic. Following last month’s 21st National...

MIAMI - A federal court in Florida ordered a Tampa-area pharmacy shut down and prohibited two of its employees from ever owning, managing or operating any business where controlled substances are dispensed. Pursuant to an agreed consent judgment and permanent injunction filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District...

Washington, D.C., – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division will host its 21st National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, this Saturday, October 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event offers free and anonymous disposal of unneeded medications at more than 4,000 local drop-off locations nationwide. For more...

Baltimore, Md., – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced William Soyke, age 68, of Hanover, Pennsylvania to 37 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and dispense oxycodone, fentanyl, methadone, and alprazolam outside the scope of professional practice and not for...