United States Drug Enforcement Administration

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A former family practice doctor in Huntsville was sentenced today for drug crimes, health care fraud, and COVID-19 disaster relief fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Hofer, and Special Agent...

Jackson, Miss. – Approximately 40 individuals were arrested Tuesday pursuant to 10 federal indictments filed in the Southern District of Mississippi charging defendants from Lauderdale, Newton, Neshoba, Scott, and Jasper counties in Mississippi, as well as Mexico, California, Texas, and Alabama. The charges stem from a four-year federal investigation of...

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced the sentencing of two men Friday for drug trafficking in the Lafayette area. United States District Judge Robert R. Summerhays sentenced James Johnwell, 44, of Crowley, Louisiana, to 71 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release for...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A former Gadsden-area pharmacist and city school board member was sentenced yesterday for drug distribution conspiracy and tax crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley, and...

NEW ORLEANS – DEA is alerting all citizens to an increase in drug overdose deaths tied to counterfeit pills containing the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. Manufactured by Mexican drug trafficking (DTOs), and marketed as a medication such as oxycodone on the illicit drug market, these pills can be deadly. One...

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Drug Enforcement Administration yesterday announced that a member of a large drug trafficking organization was sentenced. Byron A. Lawson, age 40, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced as part of Operation Hidden Fee, an extensive federal, state, and local investigation by the Middle District Organized...

NEW ORLEANS – Major investigations and arrest operations have taken place in Lafourche, Terrebonne and St. John Parishes over the past year, resulting in the indictments and arrests of over two dozen defendants facing multiple federal and state drug and gun charges, announced the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the...

NEW ORLEANS – Morris & Dickson Company LLC has agreed to pay the United States $22 million in civil penalties to resolve claims that it violated the Controlled Substances Act by failing to report suspicious orders of hydrocodone and oxycodone, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Brad L...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – On Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, a federal jury convicted nurse practitioner Lilian Ifeoma Akwuba, 39, of Montgomery, Alabama, on 17 counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances, 4 counts of health care fraud, 1 count of conspiring to distribute controlled substances, and 1 count of conspiring to commit...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Jessie Acosta, 41, of San Pedro, California, was sentenced to more than 12 years (150 months) in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute kilogram quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana throughout the Middle District of Alabama and Georgia, announced U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant...