United States Drug Enforcement Administration

MIAMI – Four South Florida residents have been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl and meth. On Jan. 16, Gito St. Fort, 35, of West Palm Beach, Fla., a career criminal, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of a controlled substance resulting...

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Joseph Marion, 41, of St. Petersburg, Fla., to life in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and crack cocaine; distributing fentanyl; distributing a mixture of fentanyl and heroin that resulted in serious bodily injury; and possessing...

DALLAS, TX - A fentanyl dealer who admitted he was involved in at least three overdoses, two of them fatal, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 23 years in federal prison. Rhett Barclay, 23, was indicted in September 2023 and pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to possess with intent to...

ORLANDO, Fla . – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that a federal jury has found Joel David Fonseca Flores (42, Orlando) guilty of conspiring to distribute fentanyl that resulted in death. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing...

MIAMI—Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division personnel recently hosted an Operation Engage South Florida meeting with community stakeholders at First Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to stress the dangers of fentanyl—especially regarding children. Operation Engage South F lorida is an opportunity to keep fentanyl prevention, awareness, and education...

Dallas, TX - An Albuquerque mother who concealed a deadly dose of fentanyl inside her children’s luggage pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal drug crime. Magdalena Silva Banuelos, 47, was indicted in November 2022. She pleaded guilty Wednesday to distribution of fentanyl before U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn. In...

Dallas, TX - Two distributors who supplied the fentanyl that killed a 15-year-old girl in Carrollton last week have been federally charged, announced Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of DEA Dallas. The victim, is the fourth child to die of a fentanyl overdose in the area since September...

DALLAS, TX – A Dallas man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for drug trafficking violations related to a 2021 overdose death, announced Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez today. Robel Habtemariam, 20, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to manufacture and deliver fentanyl and was...

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell has sentenced Justin Kelly (36, New Port Richey) to concurrent terms of life in prison for conspiracy to distribute 40 grams of fentanyl resulting in death and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, and 15 years’ imprisonment for three counts of...

DALLAS, TEXAS - A top source of supply in the Carrollton fentanyl overdoses case has been charged with a federal drug crime, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. Jason Xavier Villanueva, 22, was charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute a Schedule II controlled...