United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ATLANTA – Dr. Arnita Avery-Kelly, a licensed podiatrist, has been found guilty on federal charges of illegally prescribing opioid painkillers and other drugs at clinic locations purporting to provide podiatric care in Sandy Springs and Lithonia, Ga. “While in the midst of this country’s prescription opioid crisis, removing and ultimately...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Five men and a woman have been indicted in federal court, charged with operating a wide-ranging drug conspiracy that included mass production of pills and possession with intent to distribute a powerful synthetic opioid. As outlined in the six-count indictment in U.S. District Court and from testimony...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Omil Cotto, 33, of Albuquerque, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to charges of methamphetamine possession with the intent to distribute and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The evidence acquired during the investigation shows that at approximately 2:39...

Tallahassee, Fla. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment, unsealed today, charging eight defendants with 83 counts of federal dogfighting offenses stemming from an investigation into drug trafficking and a large-scale illegal dogfighting operation involving approximately 100 dogs. Most of the dogs used by the defendants were recovered by...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sixteen members and associates of a prison-based gang have been charged after a long-running investigation into drug trafficking and murders inside and outside of California’s prisons. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott, and Special Agent in...

SAVANNAH, Ga. The lead defendant in a Statesboro drug trafficking conspiracy has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Natividad Dias , a/k/a “Nat,” “Nate,” “Amigo” or “Huevos,” 46, a Mexican national who lived in Sylvania, Ga., was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison by Chief U.S. District...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Two California men have been sentenced for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy to transport methamphetamine and heroin from the Lower 48 to Ketchikan for distribution. Arthur Castillo, 32, of Fresno, California, and Alfonso Francisco Sandoval, 32, of Clovis, California, were both sentenced in Juneau on...

SPOKANE, Wash. – Rosalio Emmanuel Sanchez, age 33, of Pasco, Washington, was sentenced on May 29, 2019, after having been convicted after a 5-day jury trial in March 2019, of one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Andrew L. Fitch, 32 years old, of Angola, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced United States Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division Special Agent in Charge Brian M. McKnight and...

Orlando, Fla. – Andrew Shettler, aka “Yeti,” 36, of Daytona Beach, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Shettler had pleaded guilty on Jan. 30, 2019. According to court documents, in April 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and...