United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ORLANDO , Fla . –David Torres-Velez (48, Davenport) has been sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Torres-Velez had pleaded guilty on April 20, 2022. According to court documents, Torres-Velez was involved in multiple kilogram-level cocaine transactions over the course of 2020...

FLORENCE, SOUTH CAROLINA — Kimo Takarra Felton, 42, of Conway, was sentenced this week to more than 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a member of a 35-member conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Evidence presented at the sentencing...

AUGUSTA, GA: An Atlanta-area man has been sentenced to federal prison after admitting his role in a major drug trafficking conspiracy that funneled cocaine and other drugs through Atlanta to the Waynesboro, Ga., area. Chadric Antonio Rhaney, a/k/a “Chad,” 42, of Powder Springs, Ga., was sentenced to 88 months in...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Ronald Keith Scronce, 65, of Lincolnton, N.C., to 168 months in prison and five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to filed documents and...

OCALA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Brody Kies (39, Webster) pleaded guilty to a four-count indictment charging him with possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possessing a firearm as a convicted...

ORLANDO , Fla – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the unsealing of two indictments charging 13 individuals in 2 drug conspiracies in the Orlando area. According to the redacted indictments, the below individuals are in custody and charged with conspiring with each other, and others, to distribute and...

TAMPA , Fla . – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Arnulfo Rodriguez-Munoz, (41, Fort Worth, TX), Enrique Velasquez (43, Dallas, TX), Heriberto Castillo, (44, Denton, TX), and David Ceballos (27, Alvarado, TX) with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to...

WAYCROSS, Ga. – The lead defendant in a Waycross-area fentanyl and heroin trafficking operation has now pled guilty, joining the other five defendants who admitted their roles in the conspiracy. Eric Lashawn Hayes, a/k/a “Pee Wee,” 28, of Blackshear, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm...

WASHINGTON – A federal court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting a Tampa-area physician from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances, the Department of Justice announced today. In a complaint filed on July 18, and unsealed yesterday, the United States alleges that Dr. Neelam Taneja Uppal unlawfully wrote opioid prescriptions...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Former Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office deputy Joseph Barnes, Jr., 54, of Chattahoochee, Florida, was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of giving a false statement to a federal officer. The sentenced was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney...