LYNCHBURG, Va. – A former veterinarian, who admitted to stealing opioids, was sentenced today to eight months in federal prison. Patrick Gries, 54, of Madison Heights, Virginia, pleaded guilty in January 2022 to one count of adulteration of a drug held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce and one...

ABINGDON, Va. – Sovah Health has agreed to pay the United States $4.36 million to settle claims that the hospital system violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) on numerous occasions between 2017 and 2020. As part of the resolution, Sovah Health further agreed to be subject to a period of...

ABINGDON, Va. – A Greenville, South Carolina woman, who was involved in a longtime romantic relationship with the leader of an extensive methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, was sentenced this week to 36 months in federal prison. Lisa Yvonne Fleming Neely, 56, pled guilty in February 2022 to one count of conspiracy...

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Abdallah Amer Ali, 21, of Harrisonburg, sold a fatal dose of fentanyl to a 16-year-old in Harrisonburg and pled guilty to one count of distributing a measurable quantity of fentanyl which resulted in death. “With overdose deaths on a rampant rise across the country, we often focus...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Four drug traffickers pled guilty recently to conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine throughout the Charlottesville area. Santo Hidalgo Siguenza, a.k.a. “Chila,” 40, from El Salvador, Francisco Rocha Uribe, 31, from Mexico, Rafael Vasquez Navarette, 26, from El Salvador, and Luis Guillermo Melendez-Henrique, 31...

ABINGDON, Va. – The owner of a supplement company, that manufactured and shipped unapproved drugs and illegal steroids for use by members of the bodybuilding community, pled guilty this week to a pair of federal drug charges. John Franklin Cochcroft, 37, of Lexington, South Carolina, waived his right to be...

ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke woman, who sold drugs on behalf of her incarcerated boyfriend, was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison. Aminee Jewell Davenport, 35, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one count of distributing more than 100 grams of heroin. According to court documents, Davenport was...

ABINGDON, Va. – Ralph Allen Phillips, Jr., 62, was sentenced today to 210 months in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. According to court documents, law enforcement officials executed several controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Phillips in early 2021. While executing...

ABINGDON, Va. – A Tennessee woman, who was part of a conspiracy that trafficked methamphetamine from Mexico into Southwest Virginia, was sentenced last week to 156 months in federal prison. Jessica Nicole Kent, 35, of Bristol, TN, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to one count of conspiring to distribute 50...

ABINGDON, Va. – A Smyth County man, who ordered approximately 30,000 fentanyl pills from California and sold them in Southwest Virginia, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court. Zachary Ryan Hutton, 21, of Marion, Virginia, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of knowingly possessing with the intent to distribute and...