Press Releases - 2017

NEW YORK - Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Darcel D. Clark, the Bronx County District Attorney; Ashan M. Benedict, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and (ATF); James J. Hunt, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA), and James P.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment today against Curtis Dale Sawyer, 52, and Ann Marie Vance, 49, both of Chico, charging them with conspiring to possess and possessing methamphetamine for distribution, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin announced. Vance was also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

NEW ORLEANS - Cornell Pendleton, age 51, of the Gentilly neighborhood in New Orleans, was sentenced today for his role in laundering money on behalf of heroin dealers in the New Orleans area, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and  Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

A U.S. District Judge sentenced Pendleton to a term of incarceration of 121 months, followed by two years of supervised release.  The Judge also ordered Pendleton to pay a fine of $100,000. 

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - A second superseding indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging medical doctor Martin Tesher with unlawfully prescribing oxycodone and fentanyl to a patient, Nicholas Benedetto, without legitimate medical purpose, which resulted in Benedetto’s overdose death on March 5, 2016 in Staten Island. Dr. Tesher was previously indicted for unlawfully prescribing thousands of oxycodone pills to patients without a legitimate medical purpose. Dr.

SHREVEPORT, La. - A Texas man was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison for conspiring to transport methamphetamine and cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley and Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook. 

JACKSON, Miss. - Charlie Lee Martin, 54, of Jackson, Mississippi, and Shredewrick Anderson, 42, of Lancaster, California, were sentenced on December 12, 2017, by a U.S. District Judge for their roles in a drug conspiracy, announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst.

NEWARK, N.J. - On October 30, 2017, new Special Agent in (SAC) of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, Valerie A. Nickerson, reported for duty.  SAC Nickerson is replacing former SAC Carl J. Kotowski, who retired on October 27.  SAC Kotowski oversaw the DEA’s New Jersey Division since April 2013.

BEAUMONT, Texas - A 45-year-old Houston man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy today.

Christopher Wade Ferrell pleaded guilty on May 18, 2017, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 327 months in federal prison on Dec. 15, 2017, by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

AUSTIN, Texas - This week, federal and state authorities in the Austin area arrested 20 individuals, including ringleader Horace Caruther of Round Rock, Texas, for their alleged roles in a narcotics distribution ring operating in the Taylor, Texas, area announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy, Houston Division.

Those arrested include: