United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Tony Le, 55, Minh Le, 36, and Cuong Le, 43, all of Sacramento were sentenced today by United States District Judge William B. Shubb for their involvement...

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A San Clemente man pleaded guilty this morning to federal drug trafficking and tax offenses in relation to a string of nine illegal marijuana storefronts that generated millions of dollars in income. John Melvin Walker, also known as “Pops,” 56, of San Clemente, pleaded guilty to...

FRESNO, Calif. - United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Jose Alcaraz Palacio, 33, of Torrance, today to five years and three months in federal prison, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced. According to court documents, on...

SAN FRANCISCO - United Parcel Service, Inc. (“UPS”) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of (“USAO-NDCA”) entered into a Non-Prosecution (“NPA”) today in which UPS agreed to forfeit $40 million in payments it has received from illicit online pharmacies and to implement a compliance program designed...

SAN FRANCISCO - Nine defendants were sentenced over the last two days for their roles in illegally distributing controlled substances to customers who bought the drugs from illicit Internet pharmacies, United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano announced. The defendants...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Tien Le, 47, of Sacramento, was found guilty today of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana following a six-day jury trial before United States District Judge William B. Shubb, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. The...

MARCH 20 - RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Federal and state authorities this morning arrested 10 defendants charged in a federal criminal complaint that accuses them of participating in a wide-ranging drug conspiracy that operated marijuana grow houses across Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. As part of the investigation led...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - William Robert Barsanti, 27, of Junction City, Calif., pleaded guilty in federal court to growing marijuana, Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. According to court documents, sheriff’s deputies searched three Trinity County properties owned...

FRESNO, Calif. - Two large-scale marijuana cultivators pleaded guilty and one was sentenced today in federal court, according to Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bruce C. Balzano and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner. The defendants were involved in separate marijuana cultivation operations in Kern, Kings, and Stanislaus...

LOS ANGELES - A member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang and longtime leader of the Puente-13 criminal street gang was sentenced on March 6, 2013, to life in federal prison after being convicted last year on federal racketeering charges that included a brutal stabbing designed to deter victims from...