United States Drug Enforcement Administration

MIAMI – Four South Florida residents have been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl and meth. On Jan. 16, Gito St. Fort, 35, of West Palm Beach, Fla., a career criminal, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of a controlled substance resulting...

TAMPA, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, of Colombia, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, also of Colombia, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date...

MIAMI– On Dec. 10, Blake Alfonso Kolessa, 27, of Greenacres, Fla., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks for possessing with intent to distribute metonitazene, N-desethyl isotonitazene, and methamphetamine. Kolessa previously pled guilty...

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Billy Ruiz (46, California) guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Ruiz faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. His...

TAMPA, Fla. – An indictment charging Robert Lee Ward 40, Fort Myers with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and tampering with an informant by killing him/her was unsealed today. The indictment also charges Dalton Kelvin McGriff 49, Fort Myers with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or...

MIAMI – With the robust participation of Americans nationwide, DEA and its law enforcement partners have now surpassed its 10 million pound goal and collected nearly 11 million pounds of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications over the course of 16 successful DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back events. During...

MIAMI - On Sept. 28, 2018, Richard Senese, 39, a former Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, for attempted international narcotics trafficking. Senese, formerly of Hialeah, previously pled guilty to attempting to import cocaine into the United...

ORLANDO, Fl a. - Jose Ramon Rivera (23, Orlando) was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months in federal prison for distributing heroin and methamphetamine, possessing firearms as a convicted felon, and carrying a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime. Rivera pleaded guilty on July 12, 2018. According to court documents...

MIAMI - A former Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced to 97 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $722,000 in restitution for his roles in bank fraud and money laundering schemes. Jose Orlando Sanchez Cristancho, a.k.a. Orlando Sanchez , 57...

TAMPA, Fla., - Aureliano Cuero-Cuero aka "Chavo," 38, of Mosquera, Nariño, Colombia was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine on board vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Cuero-Cuero pleaded guilty on May 23, 2018. According to court records, Cuero-Cuero was an...