United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Baltimore, Md., – Dwight Antonio Pitts, age 47, of Hanover, Maryland, pleaded guilty on November 19, 2021, to charges related to his participation in a drug distribution conspiracy involving large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and other drugs, shipped through the U.S. Mail from California to Maryland. The guilty plea was...

COEUR D’ALENE – Dr. Eric Benson, an internist practicing medicine in Post Falls, Idaho, agreed to pay $110,000 to resolve allegations that he unlawfully prescribed opioids and other controlled substances to patients between 2014-2021. The settlement, which was based in part on Dr. Benson’s ability to pay, also restricts the...

CONNECTICUT - Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERTO MUNIZ, 37, of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, was sentenced today via videoconference by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking cocaine...

MASSACHUSETTS – A Worcester man was sentenced yesterday in connection with a fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine trafficking conspiracy. Robert Young, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. In October 2018, Young pleaded guilty...

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...

Greenbelt, Md., – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Ian Carlton Alexander a/k/a “Shawn Alexander”, age 50, of Towson, to 61 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and for being a felon in possession of a firearm...

NEW YORK -- A three-month investigation disrupted a Georgia-to-New York gun trafficking pipeline and resulted in the seizure of 25 guns, including five assault weapons. The guns and a quantity of cocaine were sold to an undercover officer. Ray Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Fabian Emilio Zapata Taborda, also known as “Milo” and “Milito,” was arraigned today before United States District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn on an indictment charging him with leading an international cocaine distribution conspiracy. The defendant, a Colombian citizen, was arrested in...

Baltimore, Md., – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Tirrel Saunders, a/k/a “Pretty”, age 35, of Baltimore, Maryland to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Saunders was a member of the Gregory Butler Drug Trafficking Organization (“Butler...

Washington, D.C. - A Mexican national was extradited from Brazil to the United States on Nov. 10 to face international drug trafficking charges. Jose Gonzalez-Valencia, aka Jafett Arias-Becerra, aka La Chepa, aka Camaron, and aka Santy, 46, arrived in the United States on Wednesday and made his initial court appearance...