United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Washington D.C. man pleaded guilty today to laundering roughly $3,500,000 generated by the illegal sale of marijuana and THC. According to court documents, Connor Pennington, 39, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Pennington was the Chief Executive Officer of JointVentures, LLC., a company...

Seattle – The leader of a violent, prolific drug trafficking ring was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, 36, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering and...

Seattle – The mid-level leader of a drug distribution cell that was one of the most violent seen in the Western District of Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Jose Daniel Espinoza, 35, was indicted and...

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man from St. Charles, Missouri, caught trying to bring 100 pounds of methamphetamine to the St. Louis area to 10 years in prison. A traffic stop in Kansas led to the case against Demond Benard McDaniels Jr...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Dumfries man was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury, and possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl. According to court documents, on September 21, 2021, Michael Vaughn, 28, distributed cocaine laced with fentanyl at...

NY., - Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the conviction in Manhattan federal court of Billy Ortega, a/k/a “Jason,” for distributing the fentanyl that killed three young New York City professionals: Julia Ghahramani, Amanda Scher, and Ross Mtangi. The jury convicted Ortega...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Kristin P. Prince, 41, of Mesa, Arizona, to 168 months in prison for distribution of methamphetamine. Following his release from federal prison, Prince must complete five years of supervised release. According to court documents, the offenses occurred in January...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Rock Port, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to selling fentanyl to another Atchison County, Mo., man that resulted in his fatal overdose. Quentin W. Carder, 23, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one count of conspiracy to distribute...

Tacoma – A Bremerton, Washington couple was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to lengthy prison terms for possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. David Berryhill, 46, was sentenced to 90 months in prison and his fiancé Jamie Kelly, 50, was sentenced to...

SAN DIEGO - William Estuardo Lemus-Lara, aka “Humilde,” a high-level cartel boss from Guatemala, was sentenced in federal court today to 210 months in federal prison. According to public documents, Lemus-Lara was identified as the leader of a transcontinental criminal organization that moved multi-ton quantities of cocaine from South America...