DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
27 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

Nurse Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegal Prescription Scheme

TAMPA , F la. – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Debora Ryder (56, New Port Richey) to three years in federal prison for drug conspiracy . Ryder entered a guilty plea on September 19, 2023. She has also agreed to forfeit her nursing licenses. According to court...
PRESS RELEASE

Jury Convicts Pain Clinic Doctor of Unlawful Drug Distribution, Money Laundering, and Filing a False Tax Return

TAMPA , F la. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that a federal jury found Dr. Qing McGaha guilty of 14 counts of unlawful drug distribution, four (4) counts of money laundering, and one (1) count of filing a false tax return. McGaha faces a maximum penalty of...
PRESS RELEASE

Defendants Convicted and Sentenced in Long-Term Methamphetamine and Oxycodone Drug Trafficking Investigation in Bay County

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A federal judge sentenced the seventh defendant in a large-scale methamphetamine and oxycodone trafficking organization operating primarily in Bay County. The convictions and sentences were announced by Jason R. Coody United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. “Our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners...
PRESS RELEASE

Suburban Chicago Woman Sentenced to 1 Year for Writing Fraudulent Opioid Prescriptions

CHICAGO - Robert Bell, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division, and U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr., of the Northern District of Illinois today announced that an administrative assistant at a suburban Chicago medical practice has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for...
PRESS RELEASE

Pain Clinic Doctor and Staff Member Charged with Unlawful Distribution of Opioids

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the return of an indictment charging Dr. Qing McGaha (55, Tampa) with conspiracy to commit unlawful distribution of controlled substances and unlawful distribution of controlled substances for no legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice, as...
PRESS RELEASE

Naples Doctor Who Operated a Pill Mill Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison

FORT MYERS, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell today sentenced Gerald Michael Abraham, 76, of Naples, Florida. to three years in federal prison for dispensing controlled substances (oxycodone and amphetamine) for no legitimate medical purpose. The court also ordered Abraham to forfeit the following items to the United...
PRESS RELEASE

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawfully Distributing Opioids at His Pain Management Clinic

MIAMI – A Florida man pleaded guilty yesterday to unlawfully distributing opioids at his pain management clinic in Miami, Florida. According to court documents, Habib Geagea Palacios, 40, of Miami, owned a cash-only pain management clinic in Miami, Florida named General Care Center, Inc. At General Care Center, Palacios paid...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Issues Public Safety Alert on Sharp Increase in Fake Prescription Pills Containing Fentanyl and Meth

CHICAGO – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. DEA’s Public Safety Alert, the first in six years, seeks to raise public awareness of a significant nationwide surge...
PRESS RELEASE

Two Chicago Area Physicians Indicted on Narcotics and Health Care Fraud

CHICAGO — Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Bell, Drug Enforcement Administration-Chicago Division and John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois announced that two suburban Chicago physicians have been indicted on federal criminal charges for allegedly prescribing opioids to individuals who lacked a legitimate...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal Judge Sentences “Pill Mill” Co-owner to Prison

MILWAUKEE – Robert J. Bell, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration- Chicago Division and Richard G. Frohling, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced today that on March 18, 2021, Susan Moyer (58) of Milwaukee, the former co-owner and office manager of the “Compassionate Care...