United States Drug Enforcement Administration

OAKLAND, Calif. – Jose Luis Garcia, the co-owner of Envios Express, a money transmitting business in Oakland, was sentenced this week to 12 months in federal prison. The Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., United States District Judge, handed down the sentence on Jan. 15, 2025. Garcia, 57, of Oakland, was...

SAN DIEGO –Scott Anthony Sargent of San Diego pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied the fentanyl that caused the fatal overdoses of a 40-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man in North Park in 2022. San Diego Police officers, along with investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The United States has filed a civil complaint against nurse practitioner Joan Rubinger, registered in Stockton, that alleges a long-running nationwide scheme to sell illegal opioid prescriptions for cash, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced. The...

SAN DIEGO – Keith Octavio Rodriguez Padilla, a prolific firearms trafficker, was sentenced in federal court today to 19.5 years in custody for his role in supplying weapons and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition to the Sinaloa Cartel. This case is part of a long-running investigation targeting the...

SAN FRANCISCO – The government of Honduras extradited Gustavo Erazo, a Honduran national, to the United States this week to appear on charges stemming from his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in the San Francisco Bay Area. The extradition marks the sixth extradition of...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ronald Yandell, 62, of Pinole, and William Sylvester, 56, of Norco, were each sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to two consecutive life terms in prison for murder in aid of racketeering and various other RICO-related crimes, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge...

San Diego – Bryan Kim Bullard pleaded guilty in federal court today to distributing the fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 25-year-old Carlsbad woman. According to the plea agreement, on September 9, 2023, Bullard’s co-defendant, Cameron William Fulston, reached out to the victim, identified in court records as...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Robert Charles Crist, 58, of Vacaville, pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of a firearm and manufacturing a controlled substance, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris and United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, on Sept...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Yvette Porras-Ochoa, 42, of Wittmann, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 180 months in prison. Porras-Ochoa pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 50 grams or more of Cocaine, Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Prescription...

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Heriberto Lopez-Landeros, 44, of Avondale, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Steven P. Logan to 14 years in prison. Lopez-Landeros pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on August 5, 2024. Lopez-Landeros was the head of an Arizona-based drug trafficking organization responsible...