DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
76 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Selling Fentanyl That Killed One Woman, Hospitalized Another

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who sold the fentanyl that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital in one day in 2019 to 14 years in prison. Zachary Hovis, 24, provided fentanyl to an 18-year-old woman in the parking...
PRESS RELEASE

Illinois Man Sentenced to More Than 23 Years in Prison for Selling Fatal Fentanyl

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who sold the fake Percocet pills that killed a man in St. Louis County in 2022 to 23 years and eight months in prison. “I’m going to send a message to other drug dealers,” said Judge...
PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Attorney’s Office and DEA Announce Fatal Fentanyl Overdose Task Force

Baltimore, Maryland – Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Division, announced that their agencies have formed the Maryland Fatal Fentanyl Overdose Task Force (“MFFOTF”). The alarming rate of overdoses in Maryland has...
PRESS RELEASE

Illinois Man Found Guilty of Selling Fatal Fentanyl Pills

ST. LOUIS – A jury Wednesday evening convicted a man from Belleville, Illinois, of a charge related to his sale of fake Percocet pills that killed a man in St. Louis County in 2022. A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis found Deontae’ Tre’Von Overall, 28, guilty of...
PRESS RELEASE

Denver Man Sentenced for Fentanyl, Meth Trafficking, Illegal Firearm

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Denver, Colorado, man was sentenced in federal court today for transporting thousands of fentanyl pills and methamphetamine through Kansas City, Mo., aboard a bus and for illegally possessing a firearm. Ahmad Rashad Rhodes, 45, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Rhodes...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Washington Division Calls on the Community to Have Important Conversations on Dangers of Drugs and Fake Pills in Back-To-School Routines

Washington, DC – As schools in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia open their doors to students and teachers this month, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division is urging the community to have important conversations about the consequences of drug experimentation and misuse as the new school year...
PRESS RELEASE

Ohio Man Sentenced to 65 Months in Prison for Swapping Fentanyl, Cash for Counterfeit Pills

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Thursday sentenced an Ohio man who arranged to buy 200,000 counterfeit pills to five years and five months in prison. On June 27, 2021, Matthew Prunty, 31, of the Dayton area, sent another man to exchange $46,000 and 2,000 pills...
PRESS RELEASE

Northwest Missouri Fentanyl Distributor Sentenced

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Newtown, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in conspiracies to distribute fentanyl in northwest Missouri and to wire the proceeds of drug trafficking to Mexico. Lucas Ryan Coltrain, 24, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to nine...
PRESS RELEASE

Guilty Plea from Dealer Who Sold Fatal Dose of Fentanyl

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Peters, Missouri, on Friday admitted selling the fentanyl that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital in one day in 2019. Zachary Hovis, 24, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of distribution of fentanyl. Hovis...
PRESS RELEASE

Man Likely Behind Woman's Fentanyl Poisoning Death Sentenced

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a man from St. Louis County, Missouri, who sold drugs to a woman who later died, to seven years in prison. Donald Lawrence Bateman, 28, pleaded guilty in January to distribution of a controlled substance and possession with...