United States Drug Enforcement Administration

FORT MYERS, F l a . – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber sentenced Shauntavus Berklin (34, Fort Myers) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing firearms as a convicted felon and distributing fentanyl. The court also ordered Berklin to forfeit the firearms he illegally had possessed. Berklin had...

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Hector Enrique Veliz Villeda (30, Hialeah) pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Veliz Villeda faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has...

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven sentenced Virginia Garcia Moreta (35, Tampa) and Hector Rodriguez Mendez (47, Tampa) to 70 and 63 months in federal prison, respectively, for conspiring to commit money laundering. As part of their sentences, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in...

NEWARK, N.J. – The Drug Enforcement Administration will host its 23rd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event offers anonymous disposal of unneeded medications at more than 4,000 local drop-off locations nationwide. For more than a decade, DEA’s National...

NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced criminal charges today against 42 defendants related to racketeering, violence, narcotics distribution, and federal firearms offenses. The charges stem from five separate investigations conducted by federal, state and local enforcement partners. “Keeping New Jersey safe and reducing violent crime are core...

OCALA , Fla . – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. sentenced Tymane D. Hamilton (30, Phoenix, Arizona) to 16 years and 8 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Hamilton had pleaded guilty on April 19, 2022. According to court documents and evidence presented in...

WASHINGTON – A federal court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting a Tampa-area clinic, its operators and a doctor from administering, dispensing or distributing any controlled substances, including issuing prescriptions for opioids, the Department of Justice announced. In a complaint filed on Oct. 11 and unsealed Oct. 14, the United...

MIAMI – A South Florida fentanyl dealer whose product killed a man was sentenced this week to 20 years in federal prison for the distribution of a controlled substance. On April 15, 2021, Donte McCray met with another man at a 7-11 convenience store in Lake Worth, Fla., with the...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With the sentencing of the last of 16 defendants, federal prosecutors concluded prosecution of a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking organization operating primarily within Franklin and Gulf Counties. The convictions and sentences were announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. “Cooperative and...

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the return of an indictment charging Bradenton residents Nathasha Prieto (33) and Angel Hernandez Coss (37) with conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. If convicted on all counts, each faces...