DEA Archived Press Releases

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

South Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Participating in a Conspiracy to Distribute Protonitazene from China

MIAMI – A south Florida defendant pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a synthetic opioid, protonitazene. Will Catis, Sr. (Catis), 42, of Deerfield Beach, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal. According to the agreed upon factual proffer, on April 12, 2022...
PRESS RELEASE

North Carolina Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Meth Trafficking

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Alfred A. Cooke, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Merrillville, Indiana, and U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson for the Northern District of Indiana announced that Keith Wigfall, 57, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty on...
PRESS RELEASE

Nurse Who Stole Painkillers, Replacing Them with Saline and Putting Surgical Patients at Risk, Sentenced to Four Years

RALEIGH, N.C. – A former Fuquay-Varina nurse was sentenced today to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release for tampering with painkillers intended for surgery patients. On March 9, 2022, Melissa Elizabeth Chacona pled guilty to the charges. “Surgical patients trust healthcare providers to give them the...
PRESS RELEASE

Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking

According to court documents, in March and April 2022, Calvin Ray Brown, 50, and a co-conspirator sold counterfeit pressed pills containing fentanyl to a Fairfax County Police Department confidential source and undercover detective on multiple occasions. When a search warrant was executed on Brown’s residence, officers recovered 999 counterfeit pressed...
PRESS RELEASE

District Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Distribution, Which Resulted in Death of Consumer from Virginia

WASHINGTON – Andrew Cooper, 47, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to a federal charge of distribution of Fentanyl, admitting that he distributed the drug to customers from his residence in Northeast Washington. In the statement of facts in support of the plea agreement, Cooper admitted that he distributed Fentanyl to...
PRESS RELEASE

Virginia Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Distribute Meth on the Darknet

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fairfax, Virginia man was sentenced today to 52 months for conspiring to distribute between 15 and 45 kilograms of pills containing methamphetamine via the darknet. According to court documents, from about May 2019 through December 2019, Tyler Pham, 39, conspired to distribute peach tablets advertised as...
PRESS RELEASE

Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Fentanyl in Petersburg

RICHMOND, Va. – A Sterling man pleaded guilty today to distribution of fentanyl. According to court documents, on July 21, 2021, Salahudin Mitchell, 39, distributed more than 56 grams of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl. According to court documents, beginning in late 2020, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration...
PRESS RELEASE

Nurse Pleads Guilty to Tampering with Morphine at Moses Lake Clinic

Spokane - Esther Rae Tuller, age 40, of Moses Lake, Washington, has pleaded guilty to tampering with morphine medication while working as a registered nurse. Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian accepted Tuller’s guilty plea and scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 17, 2022, in Spokane. According to...
PRESS RELEASE

Member of Southwest Baltimore “NFL” Gang Pleads Guilty to a Federal Racketeering, Distributing Large Quantities of Drugs, Two Murders and an Attempted Murder

Greenbelt, Md., – Bobby Cannon, a/k/a Freaky, age 24 of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to participating in a violent racketeering conspiracy, specifically, the NFL Criminal Enterprise, including committing two murders. The term "NFL" stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, which are three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village...
PRESS RELEASE

Drug Dealer Pleads Guilty to Heroin Distribution and Admits That Heroin He Distributed Resulted in a Fatal Overdose

Greenbelt, Md., – Edwin Kerry Smith, age 43, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and admitted that heroin he distributed to one victim resulted in the victim’s fatal overdose. The guilty plea was announced by Jarod Forget, Special Agent in...