United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced to 339 months in federal prison for three counts of pharmacy robbery and three counts of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. According to court documents, from October to December 2020, Atseko Factor, 40, and...

WASHINGTON – A federal court ordered an Elkin, North Carolina, pharmacy to pay a $500,000 penalty and enjoined the pharmacy and its pharmacists from dispensing controlled substances, including opioids, without taking steps to help ensure the drugs will not be abused or diverted. The consent decree resolves a complaint filed...

HOUSTON – Six Houstonians have been taken into custody for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, specifically pharmaceutical grade drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Kerry Lewis Walker, 36...

HOUSTON – A medical clinic office manager has been sentenced for operating a pill mill clinic that unlawfully distributed over 600,000 opioid pills, announced Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. A federal jury convicted Andres...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Savonte Watkins, 46, of Charlotte, to 42 months in prison on drug charges yesterday, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Bell also ordered Watkins to serve three years under court supervision after...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A North Carolina physician appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan C. Rodriguez this morning on charges related to the alleged unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. A criminal indictment charging Henry Ronald Emery, Jr...

NEW BERN, N.C. – A three-judge panel from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous, published opinion affirming former physician Jong Whan Kim’s conviction and sentence for operating a pill mill in Tabor City. The Fourth Circuit’s decision was the first published opinion by the Court upholding a...

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Dr. Mark S.T. Armitage, a physician practicing with Pelican Family Medicine in Wilmington, North Carolina, agreed to pay $170,000 to resolve alleged violations of the Controlled Substances Act. Dr. Armitage, who previously surrendered his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration to prescribe controlled substances, further agreed not to...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A former Fuquay-Varina nurse was sentenced today to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release for tampering with painkillers intended for surgery patients. On March 9, 2022, Melissa Elizabeth Chacona pled guilty to the charges. “Surgical patients trust healthcare providers to give them the...

SAVANNAH, GA - A Coffee County, Ga., physician has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after he admitted to participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed massive amounts of addictive-controlled substances from pain management and addiction clinics. Dr. Wallace Steven Anderson, 68, of Douglas, Ga., was sentenced...