United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Eric Ares, 37, of Utica, New York, pled guilty yesterday to one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and to distribute fentanyl, and one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, announced United States Attorney Carla Freedman, Frank A. Tarentino III...

BOSTON – Northeast Hospital Corporation (Northeast), part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, has agreed to pay $1.9 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that Northeast violated the Controlled Substance Act (the CSA) by failing to keep accurate records of controlled substances, including opioids. The CSA requires accurate inventorying and...

NEWARK, N.J. – A New York man was arrested in East Rutherford, New Jersey for possessing with intent to distribute approximately 70 kilograms of cocaine and 25 kilograms of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. Alejandro Nouel Lajud, 39, of Yonkers, New York, is charged by complaint with...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A federal jury in Gainesville convicted Edwin Giovanny Mendoza-Verdugo, 20, of Sinaloa, Mexico, on one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, further finding Mendoza-Verdugo responsible for 40-400 grams of fentanyl, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. The...

HARTFORD, Conn. - The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Jorge Torres, 23, of Hartford, Connecticut, was sentenced to 27 months of imprisonment today in United States District Court by United States District Judge William K. Sessions III. Torres previously pleaded guilty to...

BOSTON – A Worcester man pleaded guilty on Dec. 5, 2022 to distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine. Johanny Torres-Rojas, 56, pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. U.S...

DENVER – On Friday, December 2, 2022, the DEA Rocky Mountain Division, in coordination with the Rocky Mountain HIDTA Front Range Task Force (FRTF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Denver Division, and the Longmont Police Department Special Investigations Unit (SIU) seized almost 45 pounds of a fentanyl and cocaine mixture and...

PEORIA, Ill. – Todd C. Smith, Assistant Special Agent in Charge at Drug Enforcement Administration-Chicago Division, and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris of the Central District of Illinois announced that a federal jury returned guilty verdicts on Dec. 1, 2022, against Harold U. McGhee, 48, of Peoria, Illinois, for the...

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. - The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced today that Jonathan Castro, a.k.a. “Jose,” 33, of Springfield, Vermont and Springfield, Massachusetts; Anibal Castro, Sr., a.k.a. “Papi,” 54, of Springfield, Vermont; and Derek Arie, 34, of Springfield, Vermont were indicted yesterday by a...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced that a federal jury returned a guilty verdict on Rafael Columbie on Dec. 1. The jury convicted Columbie, 53, of Albuquerque, on one count each of conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams...