United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WASHINGTON – A federal court ordered an Elkin, North Carolina, pharmacy to pay a $500,000 penalty and enjoined the pharmacy and its pharmacists from dispensing controlled substances, including opioids, without taking steps to help ensure the drugs will not be abused or diverted. The consent decree resolves a complaint filed...

NEW BERN, N.C. – A three-judge panel from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous, published opinion affirming former physician Jong Whan Kim’s conviction and sentence for operating a pill mill in Tabor City. The Fourth Circuit’s decision was the first published opinion by the Court upholding a...

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Dr. Mark S.T. Armitage, a physician practicing with Pelican Family Medicine in Wilmington, North Carolina, agreed to pay $170,000 to resolve alleged violations of the Controlled Substances Act. Dr. Armitage, who previously surrendered his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration to prescribe controlled substances, further agreed not to...

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...

CHICAGO – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. DEA’s Public Safety Alert, the first in six years, seeks to raise public awareness of a significant nationwide surge...

MACON, Ga. – A federal jury convicted a Macon resident with a lengthy criminal history of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin and Tramadol, as well as illegally possessing a firearm and possessing a gun in furtherance of drug trafficking this afternoon. Kelvin Henry, 56, of Macon, was found...

MADISON, Wis. – Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Bell, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – Chicago Division and Acting United States Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea announced that David E. Eckerle, M.D., a Madison, Wisconsin physician, entered into a settlement agreement to pay $110,000 to resolve civil allegations that he violated...

Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea and Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Bell, Chicago Division, announced that the DEA will direct resources to help reduce violent crime in Chicago and communities throughout the country. Under this initiative, called Project Safeguard, DEA will identify and prioritize drug trafficking...

GAINESVILLE, Ga. - John Michael “Mike” Gowder, James Heaton, and George David Gowder have been sentenced to federal prison. Both Mike Gowder and Heaton were convicted on October 24, 2019, after a two-week jury trial on 102 counts related to illegally prescribing and obtaining more than 15,000 doses of prescription...

CHICAGO – Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Bell, DEA Chicago Division, announced today that the DEA Merrillville Resident Office and their state and local counterparts arrested the following defendants: Geoffrey O. Onyeukwu, MD, 69, Gary, Indiana; Nurse Practitioner Akeem O. Kareem, 47, Crown Point, Indiana; and Nurse Practitioner Francis...