United States Drug Enforcement Administration

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cormelius Smith, 32, a prolific methamphetamine trafficker in Wadesboro, N.C., was sentenced to 151 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release today, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Smith’s co-conspirator, Jack Kelly Leak, 49, also of Wadesboro...

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA — Patricia Ann Hemphill, 51, of Rock Hill, was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison after pleading guilty relating to a multi-state drug operation out of the Rock Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina area. Evidence presented to the Court showed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation...

ASHEVILLE, NC – Brandon Todd O’Dell, 34, of Hiawassee, Georgia, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to documents filed with the court and today’s...

ASHEVILLE, NC – U.S. Attorney Dena J. King announced today that Benjamin Dann Owens, 36, of Hayesville, N.C., was sentenced to 312 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, Oxycodone, and other narcotics as...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Megan Emily Tate, 28, of Sylva, N.C., appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf this morning and pleaded guilty to distributing a substance that contained fentanyl which resulted in serious bodily injury, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A federal jury in Asheville has convicted Tarrell Leshaun Williams, 42, of Cherokee, N.C., of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field...

AUGUSTA, GA – A Georgia prison inmate who led an Augusta-area methamphetamine-trafficking ring has been sentenced to more than two decades in federal prison. Magnum Jelani Neely, 38, of Millen, Ga., an inmate at Dooly State Prison, was sentenced to 278 months in federal prison after previously pleading guilty to...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Savitz Drug Store, Inc., has agreed to pay $275,000 to resolve allegations that it committed recordkeeping and dispensing violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). These requirements are designed to prevent the diversion of controlled substances. This civil settlement includes a corrective action plan and is the...

MIDLAND, Texas – An Odessa man was sentenced yesterday to 151 months in prison for distributing fentanyl. In late 2021, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) received information that Jesus Arevalo, 44, received and distributed kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl in the Midland – Odessa region. The DEA and...

SAVANNAH, GA – The final sentence in a major methamphetamine trafficking operation signals the end of a prosecution that saw nearly three dozen defendants sent to prison after pleading guilty. Kristin Sheppard, a/k/a “Kristin Shine,” a/k/a “K Shine,” 32, of Savannah, was sentenced 111 months in prison followed by five...