United States Drug Enforcement Administration

AUGUSTA, GA: Ten defendants in the Augusta area have been indicted on federal charges for participating in a major methamphetamine trafficking operation. The defendants in USA v. Walters et al. all are charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Methamphetamine, along with multiple individual charges...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Maxton man was sentenced yesterday to 300 months in prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy responsible for moving kilograms of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin from Mexico to Robeson County. Antonio Lavonne Locklear pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin, and...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nor-Cal Pharmacies Inc., doing business as Lockeford Drug, and pharmacist/owner Lawrence Howen have agreed to pay $1 million in penalties to resolve allegations of violations of the Controlled Substances Act, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark announced...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Benjamin James Hemphill, 24, of Charlotte, was sentenced today to 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release today for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Savonte Watkins, 46, of Charlotte, to 42 months in prison on drug charges yesterday, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Bell also ordered Watkins to serve three years under court supervision after...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Joel Wesley Creech, 45, of Brevard, N.C., to 132 months in prison for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Reidinger also imposed five years of supervised release following incarceration. According...

SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey convened a press conference bringing together numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities to announce “All Hands on Deck,” a law enforcement initiative to address what has become endemic drug dealing in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. U.S. Attorney Ramsey...

SAN FRANCISCO – The United States Attorney’s Office has charged Yessenia Margarita Barrientos-Lainez—a former employee of a money services business in the Tenderloin district—with conspiring to launder drug proceeds by wiring large sums of money abroad for a known drug trafficker in the San Francisco Bay Area, announced United States...

FRESNO, Calif. — Jose Santana, 47, of Shafter, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brian M. Clark announced. According to court documents, on Nov...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After a six-day trial, a federal jury found Henry Benson, 42, of Vallejo, guilty on Thursday of conspiracy to distribute and manufacture methamphetamine-laced pills, four counts of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine-laced pills, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime...