United States Drug Enforcement Administration

OCALA, Fla. –Tralvaster Epps (34, Ocala) was sentenced to 10 years and 2 months in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Epps had pleaded guilty on November 18, 2021. According...

ORLANDO, Fla. – U.S. District Judges Paul G. Byron and Carlos E. Mendoza have sentenced 11 members of an Osceola County-based drug trafficking organization (DTO) to federal prison sentences ranging between 15 and 300 months for a conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin. One individual was also...

HENDERSON, Ky. – Michael J. Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Indianapolis, and U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky announced that on Feb. 9, 2022, a federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky, returned two indictments charging two men and one...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson of the Northern District of Indiana announced that Ronnie L. Rutherford, Jr., 45, of Fort Wayne, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge...

ORLANDO, Fla. –Jesus Manuel Rodriguez-Castillo (39, Kissimmee) was sentenced to eight years and four months in federal prison for distributing fentanyl-laced heroin. Rodriguez-Castillo had pleaded guilty on October 5, 2021. According to court documents, Rodriguez-Castillo sold approximately 290 grams of fentanyl-laced heroin to a cooperating source and an undercover DEA...

MIAMI – This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced a new initiative, Operation Overdrive, aimed at combatting the rising rates of drug-related violent crime and overdose deaths plaguing American communities. Last fall, DEA initiated a data-driven approach using national crime statistics and CDC data to identify hot spots of drug-related...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Robert Bell, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration-Chicago Division, and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris of the Central District of Illinois announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Phillip Jensen, DMD, 61, of Rochester, Illinois, on Feb. 1, 2022, charging him...

CHICAGO – The Drug Enforcement Administration announced a new initiative, Operation Overdrive, aimed at combatting the rising rates of drug-related violent crime and overdose deaths plaguing American communities. Last fall, the DEA initiated a data-driven approach using national crime statistics and CDC data to identify hot spots of drug-related violence...

PEORIA, Ill. – Robert Bell, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division, and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris of the Central District of Illinois announced that Dustin R. Test, 39, from Peoria, Illinois, was sentenced on Jan. 6, 2022, to 15 years and 10 months’ imprisonment...

CHICAGO — Robert Bell, Special Agent in Charge of Drug Enforcement Administration-Chicago Division, and U.S. Attorney John Lausch, Jr., of the Northern District of Illinois announced the arrest of a man on a federal drug charge after law enforcement seized fentanyl and a “pill press” in his suburban Chicago residence...