United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN DIEGO – The Drug Enforcement Administration is alerting the public of dangerous counterfeit pills killing Americans. Mexican drug cartels are manufacturing mass quantities of counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid that is lethal in minute doses, for distribution throughout North America. Based on a sampling of...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Rhiannon Rader, 34, of Fern Park, Fla., has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, hydrocodone and alprazolam, also known as Xanax. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. According to the plea agreement, as...

SAN DIEGO – On Saturday, October 26, DEA and its national, tribal and community partners will hold the 18th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day across the country. The service is free and anonymous. For the first time, DEA will accept vaping devices and cartridges at all National Prescription Drug...

SAN DIEGO – Pacific Beach resident Maya Kol pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he sold fentanyl powder that caused the death of one man and sent another to the hospital over Labor Day weekend in September 2018. A third man - Kol’s source of the fentanyl -...

SAN DIEGO – Drug dealer Trevon Antone Lucas was sentenced in federal court today to 15 years in prison for selling the counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that caused the overdose death of a La Jolla resident in June of 2018. Lucas, a resident of Highland, Calif., pleaded guilty...

SAN DIEGO – Dr. Roger A. Kasendorf, an osteopathic physician practicing in La Jolla, agreed to pay $125,000 to resolve allegations that he illegally prescribed opioids to his patients. The highly addictive and frequently abused opioids he prescribed included fentanyl, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone. In response to the Justice Department’s...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Sebastian Denton Zayas, age 30, of Orlando was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. Denton pleaded guilty on July 22, 2019. According to court documents and statements made during today’s sentencing hearing, in May 2019...

OCALA, Fla. - Cesar Osiris DeLeon-Castillo, age 36, of Clermont, and Jefry Agustin Valerio-Perez, age 39, of Orlando, were sentenced to five years and four years and nine months in federal prison, respectively, for possession with the intent to distribute one kilogram of heroin. DeLeon-Castillo and Valerio-Perez pleaded guilty in...

TAMPA, Fla. – Mario Marquez Roberson, age 28, of St. Petersburg was sentenced today to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison for distribution of 4-flouroisobutyrl fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. Roberson had pleaded guilty on April 2, 2019. According to court documents, Roberson engaged in six transactions with an...

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Robert Patrick Jensen, 49, and Michael T. Harris, 44, both of Gulf Breeze, Florida, appeared in federal court this week for their initial appearances after they were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pensacola on charges of acquiring controlled substances by fraud and identity theft. The...