DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
8 Results - Showing 1 to 8
PRESS RELEASE

Doctor and Eight Others Charged with Distributing Opioids and Other Pills

MANHATTAN – Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the indictments of nine individuals, including Tribeca physician Dr. Noel Smith, for charges including conspiring to distribute tens of thousands of prescription pills, including opioids and other controlled substances, in Manhattan and Staten Island. The defendants allegedly operated a...
PRESS RELEASE

Dentist and TOBAY Worker Charged in 136-Count Indictment for Opioid Prescription Scheme

MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III and announced that a Nassau County dentist and a Town of Oyster Bay worker have been indicted for their roles in a scheme to sell opioid prescriptions during...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Gears Up for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

NEW YORK CITY – The Drug Enforcement Administration will host its 23rd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event offers anonymous disposal of unneeded medications at more than 4,000 local drop-off locations nationwide. For more than a decade, DEA’s...
PRESS RELEASE

Yonkers Doctor Pleads Guilty to Illegal Distribution of More Than 100,000 Oxycodone Pills

NEW YORK CITY – Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Marc Laruelle pled guilty to one count of distributing Oxycodone, among other narcotics, without a legitimate medical purpose while acting outside the usual course of professional practice. Laruelle pled guilty before...
PRESS RELEASE

Eight Defendants, Including a Brooklyn Medical Doctor, And Three Pharmacists, Charged with Illegally Distributing More Than 1.2 Million Oxycodone Pills

BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, a 10-count indictment was unsealed charging Dr. Somsri Ratanaprasatporn, her office manager Leticia Smith, Bassam Amin, Omar Elsayed, and Yousef Ennab who are pharmacists, Michael Kent, Anthony Mathis, and Raymond Walker with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to...
PRESS RELEASE

Pill Mill Operator Convicted for Oxycodone Diversion

NEW YORK - Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a jury returned a guilty verdict yesterday against Purificacion Cristobal for her participation in a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose acting outside the usual course of professional practice...
PRESS RELEASE

Four People Charged in Multimillion-Dollar Health Care Fraud Scheme to Defraud Amtrak

NEWARK, N.J. – Three men and one woman were arrested today for participating in a health care fraud scheme to defraud Amtrak by bribing Amtrak employees to allow people to submit fraudulent claims to the Amtrak health insurance plan, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Muhammad Mirza, 50, of Cedar...
PRESS RELEASE

Distributor Convicted of Conspiring to Distribute Controlled Substances and Defrauding the DEA

NEW YORK – Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that Laurence F. Doud III, the former Chief Executive Officer of Rochester Drug Co-Operative, Inc. (RDC), was convicted today in Manhattan federal court of conspiring to distribute unlawfully, oxycodone and fentanyl, and conspiring...