United States Drug Enforcement Administration

YAKIMA, Wash. - Luis Alberto Oregon-Sanchez, 25, of Yakima, Washington, was sentenced December 6, 2012, for manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants, a crime to which he had previously pleaded guilty. Senior United States District Judge Fred Van Sickle imposed a five year term of imprisonment to be followed by...

COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho - Janette Marie Baucum, 59, of Scio, Oregon, pleaded guilty on December 4, 2012, in United States District Court in Coeur d’Alene to conspiracy to structure financial transactions. According to statements made in court, in September 2007, Baucum and her husband, co-defendant Robert Baucum, used proceeds of...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - - Earlier today, Charles Padilla, 44, of Albuquerque, N.M., made his initial appearance in federal court on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Padilla is temporarily detained pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, both of which are scheduled...

TACOMA, Wash. - A Thurston County resident who shipped packages of methamphetamine and heroin to a small town in Alaska was sentenced to 20 years in prison on November 30, 2012. Robert Dean Grimes, 52, was arrested on October 14, 2011, when he returned to Washington State from Alaska. Grimes...

SEATTLE - A Canadian truck driver who was identified as a drug smuggler for a criminal group related to the Hells Angels was convicted last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. James Postlethwaite, 60, of North Vancouver, BC, Canada faces a mandatory minimum 10...

EL PASO, Texas - In El Paso this afternoon, former El Paso County Precinct 3 Commissioner Guillermo “Willie” Gandara, Jr., 37, of El Paso, was sentenced to 78 months imprisonment on federal drug trafficking and money laundering charges announced Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit, U.S...

SEATTLE - A 52 year old resident of Custer, Whatcom County, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release for his role as a drug courier in a massive, international drug smuggling scheme. Glen Stewart was convicted...

MEDFORD, Ore. - Today, Donald Galvan, 48, of Central Point, Oregon, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 100 or more kilograms of marijuana. The charge stemmed from an April 2011 traffic stop in Texas where police seized 43 pounds of marijuana. The...

SEATTLE - The U.S. leader of an international drug smuggling ring was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Jacob Saul Stuart, 39, of Kirkland, Washington...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Nine individuals, who allegedly participated in a Deming, N.M., based conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine, have been charged with narcotics trafficking offenses in a federal indictment that was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico in Las Cruces. The indictment...