DEA Archived Press Releases

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

Federal Consent Decree Permanently Bans Baltimore-Based Physician Assistant from Prescribing Opioids and Controlled Substances

Baltimore, Md., – U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman has approved a consent decree that permanently enjoins Elizabeth J. Allen, a Baltimore-based physician assistant, from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances, resolving the United States’ civil allegations that Allen violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in illegally prescribing opioids. Under...
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...
PRESS RELEASE

Leader of Wholesale Drug Distribution Network Pleads Guilty to Distributing Synthetic Cannabinoids and Laundering Millions in Proceeds

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty today to being the head of a conspiracy involving the distribution of wholesale quantities of synthetic cannabinoids—commonly known as “spice” or “K2”—and laundering millions of dollars in the proceeds of the sale of that spice. According to court documents, from 2017...
PRESS RELEASE

Southeast Missouri Health Organization Pays $1.6 Million Settlement for Invalid Prescriptions

St. Louis, Mo. - Saint Francis Medical Center of Southeast Missouri has agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to settle a civil suit by the United States, resolving claims under the Controlled Substances Act. The U.S. government alleged that Saint Francis employed a Farmington, Missouri, physician, Brett Dickinson, who...
PRESS RELEASE

Dark Web Trafficker Pleads Guilty to Distributing Opioids

ALEXANDRIA, Va., – A Florida man pleaded guilty today to unlawfully distributing thousands of prescription opioid pills in exchange for over half a million dollars through the “dark web.” According to court documents, between 2012 and 2020, Daren James Reid, 35, of Fort Lauderdale, used the dark web to distribute...
PRESS RELEASE

New Hampshire businessman pleads guilty to spice distribution & fatal overdose

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Seabrook, New Hampshire man pleaded guilty today to his role in a nationwide conspiracy to distribute synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as “spice” or “K2.” According to court documents, William Walsh, 56, operated two shops in Seabrook—“Up N Smoke” and “The Smoking Monkey”—from which he sold retail...
PRESS RELEASE

Alleged leaders of Gangster Disciples indicted on racketeering charges

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Steven D. Weinhoeft, announced today that seven alleged members of the violent Gangster Disciples gang, including top national and state leaders, have been charged in a federal indictment accusing them of a years-long interstate racketeering conspiracy...