DEA Archived Press Releases

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

Santa Clarita Man Charged with Distributing Opioid More Powerful than Fentanyl and Causing Victim’s Overdose Death

LOS ANGELES – A Santa Clarita man has been arraigned on an indictment alleging he distributed protonitazene – a novel synthetic opioid that is up to three times more powerful than fentanyl – which resulted in a victim’s fatal overdose this spring, the Justice Department announced today. Benjamin Anthony Collins...
PRESS RELEASE

Idaho Doctor Pays $96,000 to Settle Allegations That He Wrote Unlawful Prescriptions

POCATELLO – Dr. Gerald Knouf, a family medicine doctor formerly of Pocatello, Idaho, agreed to pay $96,000 to resolve allegations that he wrote unlawful prescriptions, prescribed dangerous combinations of drugs, and billed Medicare and Medicaid for services that were not performed, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. The settlement also...
PRESS RELEASE

Woman Indicted for Providing Fatal Fentanyl

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a Collinsville woman for dealing a lethal dose of fentanyl, leading a man to overdose and die. Tessa R. Webber, 25, is charged with one count of distribution of a controlled substance, fentanyl, resulting in death. According...
PRESS RELEASE

Ferry County Hospital District Agrees to Pay $15,000 Penalty and Implement Corrective Actions to Address Improper Opioid Dispensing Practices at Republic Pharmacy

SPOKANE, Wash.– The Ferry County Hospital District agreed to pay a $15,000 Controlled Substances Act penalty and to institute corrective actions in regards to opioid prescribing practices at Republic Drug Store, a pharmacy in Republic, Washington, that Ferry County Hospital District purchased in January 2021 and has continued to operate...
PRESS RELEASE

New Hampshire Doctor Indicted for Unlawfully Distributing Opioids and Benzodiazepines

CONCORD, N.H. – A doctor practicing in the north country of New Hampshire was indicted in connection with his unlawful distribution of opioids and benzodiazepines, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Robert G. Soucy Jr., D.O., 70, of Columbia, New Hampshire, was indicted on 12 counts of distribution of controlled...
PRESS RELEASE

Former University of Arizona Student Sentenced to 84 Months in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Firearms Offenses

TUCSON, Ariz. – Jonathan Edward Mayer, 22, of Tacoma, Washington, was sentenced on June 30, 2023, by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 84 months in prison. Mayer previously pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Marijuana, Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana, Possession of a...
PRESS RELEASE

Consent Decree Approved Among the U.S. and Cumberland, M.D. based Pharmacy and Pharmacist

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby approved the United States’ consent decree with John A. Beckman, a Cumberland, Maryland based pharmacist, and Beckman’s Greene Street Pharmacy, Inc. (“Beckman’s Pharmacy”), resolving the United States’ civil allegations that Beckman and Beckman’s Pharmacy violated the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) in...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Alaska Advanced Nurse Practitioner Sentenced to 30 Years for Illegally Prescribing Millions of Opioids Causing Five Deaths

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA—Former Advanced Nurse Practitioner Jessica Joyce Spayd (52) was sentenced in U.S. District Court yesterday to 30 years (360 months) imprisonment for illegally prescribing and dispensing opioids outside the scope of legitimate medical practice that resulted in the deaths of five people between 2014 and 2019. United States District...
PRESS RELEASE

Haverhill Pill Distributor Indicted for Trafficking Tens of Thousands of Pills Containing Fentanyl and Meth

BOSTON – A Haverhill man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly distributing tens of thousands of pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. Angel Joel Diaz, a/k/a “Guero,” 34, was indicted on one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, two counts...
PRESS RELEASE

Missouri Doctor Admits Diluting Clinic’s Methadone

ST. LOUIS - A doctor admitted on Friday that he diluted methadone that was dispensed in a St. Francois County, Missouri, methadone clinic in 2021. Dr. Sunil G. Chand, 59, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to one count of adulterating a drug with the...