United States Drug Enforcement Administration

LAREDO, Texas – A 40-year-old resident of Lake Charles, Louisiana, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux, Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Walter Wellington Somers admitted...

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...

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Hason Harres, 47, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today to serve 57 months in federal prison for possessing methamphetamine and fentanyl with the intent to distribute. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug...

SEATTLE– A 42-year-old Bellingham, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison for drug distribution and illegal firearms possession announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Adam Wisniewski is the fifth and final defendant to be sentenced in a case involving fentanyl distribution...

POCATELLO, Idaho – Hank David Langley, 42, of Visalia, California and Thomas Joel Schooley, 39, of Hyrum, Utah, were sentenced to 11-and-a-half years and eight years in federal prison, respectively, for trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl in eastern Idaho, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Langley and Schooley were indicted by...

NEWARK, N.J. – The owner of a New Jersey company today admitted mislabeling hazardous chemicals entering the United States and evading customs duties, DEA New Jersey Field Division Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz and U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. George Volpe, 60, of Roseland, New Jersey, owner...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A 39-year-old Bellingham, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for drug distribution and firearm crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Daniel Faix was arrested in April 2023, and pleaded guilty in January to possession of controlled...

BOISE, Idaho – Tyler Watson, 40, of Nampa, was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison for possessing ten pounds of fentanyl with intent to distribute it to others, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, Watson was a mid-level fentanyl distributor for a large drug trafficking...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A 38-year-old resident of Maple Falls, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to six years in prison for his role in distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Jesse Witteveen was arrested November 1, 2022, when he fled at high...

WACO, Texas – Shrieve Chemical Company, LLC, a Drug Enforcement Administration-registered importer and distributor of listed chemicals, has agreed to pay $300,000 in civil penalties to resolve allegations that it violated provisions of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 801 et seq. In December 2022, DEA diversion investigators conducted...