DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
144 Results - Showing 111 to 120
PRESS RELEASE

Colombian submarine manufacturer pleads guilty to cocaine smuggling charges

TAMPA, Fla. - Alexander Giraldo Santa (48, Colombia) has pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine while aboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. He faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. According to...
PRESS RELEASE

Riverview man pleads guilty to distributing more than a kilogram of cocaine

TAMPA, Fla. – Emmanuel de la Cruz, 40, of Riverview, today pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. According to the plea agreement, a confidential source (CS) negotiated with de la Cruz to...
PRESS RELEASE

St. Petersburg cocaine trafficker sentenced to more than 9 years’ imprisonment

TAMPA, Fla. - Mario D. Heatly (39, St. Petersburg) was sentenced to nine years and four months in federal prison for possessing 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute it. Heatly had pleaded guilty on September 26, 2019. According to court documents, law enforcement officers executed...
PRESS RELEASE

Ocala men sentenced up to twenty years for conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl

OCALA, Fla. - Jeremy Jermaine Willis (37, Ocala) was sentenced today to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. The court also sentenced co-defendants Gary Eugene Hayes (38, Ocala) and Darren Michael Beatty (30, Ocala) to 15 years each in federal prison, for their...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal jury convicts Colombian national for international cocaine smuggling conspiracy

TAMPA, Fla. - A federal jury has found Emiro Hinestroza-Newbbooll (48, Colombia) guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine while onboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and one count of...
PRESS RELEASE

St. Petersburg man sentenced to over twelve years in prison for selling cocaine

TAMPA, Fla. - Shamon D. Heatly (37, St. Petersburg) was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for selling cocaine. Heatly had pleaded guilty on October 28, 2019. According to court documents, an undercover law enforcement officer met with Heatly, at which time Heatly directed the officer...
PRESS RELEASE

Port St. Lucie man charged with possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute

TAMPA, Fla. – A federal grand jury today returned an indictment charging Damian Sierra, 41, of Port St. Lucie, with possessing 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute. If convicted, Sierra faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, up to 40 years, in federal prison...
PRESS RELEASE

Tampa man sentenced for selling cocaine

TAMPA, Fla. – Manuel Alfonso Munoz, 48, of Tampa, was sentenced to nine years and three months in federal prison for selling cocaine. Munoz pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2019. According to court documents, Munoz sold cocaine to a confidential informant on six occasions. The total amount of cocaine sold...
PRESS RELEASE

Colombian national sentenced to more than 24 years for conspiring to send more than 12,000 kilograms of cocaine to the Sinaloa Cartel

TAMPA, Fla. - Jimmy Riascos-Riascos, 44, Colombia, South America, was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine on board vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Riascos-Riascos had pleaded guilty on July 18, 2019. According to court records, Riascos-Riascos was...
PRESS RELEASE

Winter Garden man with numerous felony convictions sentenced to 12 years in federal prison

ORLANDO, Fla. - Kenneth Bernard Smith, 55, of Winter Garden, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for possessing a loaded firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon, and for possessing with the intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. Smith had previously pleaded guilty to the offenses. According to...