United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ABINGDON, Va. – Sovah Health has agreed to pay the United States $4.36 million to settle claims that the hospital system violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) on numerous occasions between 2017 and 2020. As part of the resolution, Sovah Health further agreed to be subject to a period of...

ABINGDON, Va. – The owner of a supplement company, that manufactured and shipped unapproved drugs and illegal steroids for use by members of the bodybuilding community, pled guilty this week to a pair of federal drug charges. John Franklin Cochcroft, 37, of Lexington, South Carolina, waived his right to be...

DANVILLE, Va. – A former registered nurse working at Sovah Health-Danville was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison for tampering with consumer products (fentanyl and hydromorphone) and making false statements. Emilee Kathryn Poteat, 31, pleaded guilty in May 2021 to one count of tampering with consumer products (fentanyl...

Washington, D.C., - Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Washington Division, announced the issuance of an Immediate Suspension Order (ISO) at Northgate Pharmacy, located at 3973 Saint Charles Parkway, Waldorf, Maryland, today. This morning, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Division’s Tactical Diversion Squad, along...

LYNCHBURG, Va. – A Madison Heights, Virginia man, and former veterinarian, pleaded guilty to a pair of drug charges related to his diversion of hydromorphone, an opioid drug also known under the trade name of “Dilaudid.” Patrick Gries, 54, pleaded guilty last week to the adulteration of a drug held...

LYNCHBURG, Va. – A Madison Heights, Virginia man and former veterinarian pleaded guilty to a pair of misdemeanor drug charges related to his diversion of hydromorphone, an opioid drug also known under the trade name of “Dilaudid.” Patrick Gries, 54, pleaded guilty last week to one count of adulteration of...

NORFOLK, Va. – Today, a Richmond man was the sixth and final defendant to be sentenced for his role in a multi-state anabolic steroid conspiracy that operated across the country. According to court documents, Clyde Edward Peele, 46, is one of six members of a trafficking network, led by Michael...

NORFOLK, Va. – Today, a Jacksonville, Florida man was the sixth and final defendant to enter a guilty plea for his role in a multi-state anabolic steroid conspiracy that operated in multiple states across the country. According to court documents, law enforcement received information in February 2020 that Erik Eckert...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Utica, New York man pleaded guilty yesterday to charges relating to his sale of over $1.2 million in opioid pills and counterfeit U.S. currency on multiple dark web criminal marketplaces. According to court documents, from around October 2016 through February 2021, Albie Pagan, 65, operated under...

ROANOKE, Va. – Bryan Wade Lewis, a former pharmacist at Home Choice Partners in Roanoke, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court for tampering with a consumer product, hydromorphone, that affected interstate commerce. Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Washington Division and Acting United States Attorney Daniel...