United States Drug Enforcement Administration

TAMPA, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, of Colombia, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, also of Colombia, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date...

MIAMI – Four South Florida residents have been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl and meth. On Jan. 16, Gito St. Fort, 35, of West Palm Beach, Fla., a career criminal, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of a controlled substance resulting...

SEATTLE – Five Seattle-area men are in custody following a grand jury indictment for their drug trafficking activity in Seattle’s homeless encampments and International District, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The men are charged federally and have made their initial appearances over the last few days. “We are all...

MIAMI– On Dec. 10, Blake Alfonso Kolessa, 27, of Greenacres, Fla., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks for possessing with intent to distribute metonitazene, N-desethyl isotonitazene, and methamphetamine. Kolessa previously pled guilty...

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Billy Ruiz (46, California) guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Ruiz faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. His...

BOISE, Idaho – Jerilyn Martel Hupp, 33, of Boise, pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl in a case involving a fatality, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Hupp sold ten fentanyl pills to a man she met online, who subsequently died after ingesting half of a pill containing illicit fentanyl...

ALBANY, Ga. –A Southwest Georgia resident with a lengthy criminal history who distributed kilograms of fentanyl and other deadly drugs while in possession of firearms and ammunition was sentenced to serve 40 years in federal prison for his crimes. Larry Roger Sparks, Jr., 46, of Albany, was sentenced to serve...

FLORENCE, S.C. — A federal grand jury in Florence returned a four-count indictment against Jawan Rayel White, 37; Derrell Sherald, 38; Amon Rasheem Rutledge, 34; Alexis Nicole Loscar, 30; and Christian Vargas, 21, for conspiracy to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl. The indictment alleges that White, while incarcerated...

RALEIGH, N.C. – Talvin Lamar Brandon, 29, was sentenced to 96 months in prison for armed drug trafficking after hitting an officer’s patrol car as he was fleeing from a traffic stop. On September 3, 2024, Brandon pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500...

RALEIGH, N.C. – Michael Lynn Russell, a 62-year-old resident of Fuquay-Varina, has been sentenced to 120 months in prison after being arrested twice for trafficking methamphetamine. Russell pled guilty on October 8, 2024. “This sentencing reflects the commitment of the Fuquay-Varina Police Department to protecting our community from the devastating...