United States Drug Enforcement Administration

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...

STATESBORO, GA: Eighteen defendants from the Laurens and Toombs County, Ga., area are in custody awaiting further legal proceedings after their initial court appearances from a 55-count drug trafficking indictment in U.S. District Court. Each of the 18 defendants is charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Patrick Tylicki, 32, of Matthews, North Carolina, and his co-conspirator, Gregory Alan Kirk, 28, of Charlotte, were sentenced today for their role in distributing fentanyl that resulted in a victim’s death, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Tylicki was sentenced...

SAVANNAH, GA -- Two Georgia men, including one from Bryan County, have been sentenced to federal prison for trafficking the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl. Darien Cothern, 34, of Marietta, Ga., was sentenced to 42 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and Javarus McKinney, a/k/a “Jody,” 34...

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...

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...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Savitz Drug Store, Inc., has agreed to pay $275,000 to resolve allegations that it committed recordkeeping and dispensing violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). These requirements are designed to prevent the diversion of controlled substances. This civil settlement includes a corrective action plan and is the...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Robeson County woman was sentenced Dec. 21, 2022 to 300 months in prison for conspiring to distribute four hundred grams or more of fentanyl and for possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On April 7, 2022, Jania Delicia Leggett, 28, pled guilty to...

WILMINGTON, N.C. –– A Goldsboro, North Carolina man was sentenced today to 106 months in prison for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of Methamphetamine and Possession with Intent to Distribute 50 grams or more of...