United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SEATTLE – A 31-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison for federal crimes related to his distribution of fentanyl pills in downtown Seattle and his armed shoplifting in Bellevue, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Kendall Alston was arrested on March...

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Portland man was sentenced to the federal prison on Friday after he was caught shipping a handgun and ammunition to the United Kingdom and possessing a pound of methamphetamine in his residence. Lyle Justin Schirm, 35, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised...

POCATELLO, Idaho – Jacob James Martinez, 33, of Idaho Falls, was sentenced to federal prison for attempted possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye sentenced Martinez to 188 months in federal prison. According to court records, on...

AUGUSTA, GA- The lead defendant in a major methamphetamine-trafficking organization has been sentenced to two decades in federal prison after admitting his participation in a conspiracy related to at least one overdose death. Jayson Dwayne Wheatley, 42, of Augusta, was sentenced to 240 months in prison after previously pleading guilty...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cormelius Smith, 32, a prolific methamphetamine trafficker in Wadesboro, N.C., was sentenced to 151 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release today, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Smith’s co-conspirator, Jack Kelly Leak, 49, also of Wadesboro...

SEATTLE – A 46-year-old Marysville, Washington woman, who co-owned a Lake Stevens, Washington restaurant used for drug trafficking, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for distributing methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Laura Rodriguez-Moreno has been in custody since...

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA — Patricia Ann Hemphill, 51, of Rock Hill, was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison after pleading guilty relating to a multi-state drug operation out of the Rock Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina area. Evidence presented to the Court showed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation...

ASHEVILLE, NC – Brandon Todd O’Dell, 34, of Hiawassee, Georgia, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to documents filed with the court and today’s...

ASHEVILLE, NC – U.S. Attorney Dena J. King announced today that Benjamin Dann Owens, 36, of Hayesville, N.C., was sentenced to 312 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, Oxycodone, and other narcotics as...

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...