United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Tacoma – A 61-year-old Auburn, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to twelve years in prison for his leadership role in a multi-state drug distribution ring announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Thomas Carver has a lengthy criminal history that includes multiple prior convictions related...

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...

Spokane, Wash. - Mid-Valley Hospital and Clinic in Omak, Washington, agreed to pay a $15,000 Controlled Substances Act penalty and to institute corrective actions in regard to its pharmacy and controlled substances policy and procedures. To protect the public, the Controlled Substances Act and its implementing regulations place legal responsibilities...

HOUSTON - Charges have been unsealed as part of a larger enforcement action related to the unlawful distribution of nearly 70 million opioid pills and over 30 million doses of other commonly abused prescription drugs to alleged Houston-area pill-mill pharmacies. Three Houston-area pharmacy operators were also charged for their role...

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho--Scott Higgins, 57, of Coeur d’Alene, was sentenced yesterday on charges for theft from a program receiving federal funds and acquiring controlled substances by fraud, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Both charges relate to a drug diversion scheme that Higgins carried out over multiple years while employed...

POCATELLO – Dr. Gerald Knouf, a family medicine doctor formerly of Pocatello, Idaho, agreed to pay $96,000 to resolve allegations that he wrote unlawful prescriptions, prescribed dangerous combinations of drugs, and billed Medicare and Medicaid for services that were not performed, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. The settlement also...

WACO, Texas – Shrieve Chemical Company, LLC, a Drug Enforcement Administration-registered importer and distributor of listed chemicals, has agreed to pay $300,000 in civil penalties to resolve allegations that it violated provisions of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 801 et seq. In December 2022, DEA diversion investigators conducted...

SAN ANTONIO – A former San Antonio doctor was sentenced in federal court yesterday to 30 months in prison for conspiring with others to dispense controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose. According to court documents, Paul Silva, 48, admitted that he unlawfully and fraudulently issued more than 500 prescriptions...

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...

HOUSTON – A Texas doctor has been sentenced to seven years in prison for operating a pill mill clinic that unlawfully prescribed over 600,000 opioid pills in exchange for cash. A federal jury convicted Dr. Oscar Lightner, 73, Laredo, April 11 of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances and conspiracy...