United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SAN DIEGO – OptumRx Inc., a prescription drug benefit provider, has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations that it improperly filled certain opioid prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The settlement resolves an investigation initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) into whether, between April 2013...

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that two individuals have been charged with murder in connection with the fentanyl overdose death of 31-year-old Connor Gerhart. Defendants Sheri Cavanaugh, 59, and her co-conspirator, Micah Seau, 31, are both charged with murder and conspiracy to commit a crime. The...

SAN DIEGO – Palomar Health, a California public health care district located in San Diego County, has paid $250,000 to resolve allegations of diversion of fentanyl from one of its facilities and failure to keep accurate records for fentanyl. Palomar Health is California’s largest health care district, with campuses in...

SAN DIEG O - Derek Neal Turfler of San Diego was sentenced in federal court today to 97 months in prison for his role in selling fentanyl pills to a 27-year-old woman who fatally overdosed on May 9, 2022. According to his plea agreement, Turfler arranged a meeting to deliver...

San Diego– In 2023, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration marked its 50th anniversary as the only federal agency dedicated to fighting deadly drugs and drug-related violence. This milestone celebrated a half century of dedication to fighting drug trafficking in the United States and around the world, which threatens the public...

SAN DIEGO – Jonathan Miguel Lopez was sentenced in federal court to 120 months in prison for selling the fentanyl pills that resulted in the fatal overdose of 23-year-old Sherie Gil on September 30, 2021. Lopez pleaded guilty in October 2022. According to the government’s sentencing memo, on the morning...

SAN DIEGO - Jaimee Ashley Koryn was sentenced in federal court today to 130 months in prison for selling the fentanyl pills that resulted in the fatal overdose of 23-year-old Sherie Gil on September 30, 2021. Koryn pleaded guilty in October 2022, admitting that she sold Gil the fentanyl pills...

SAN DIEGO - Kaylar Junior Tawan Beltranlap, a 21-year-old San Diego resident, was sentenced in federal court today to 156 months in prison for distributing counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that resulted in the death of 15-year-old Coronado High School sophomore Clark Jackson Salveron on May 12, 2021. Beltranlap...

SAN DIEGO - Dr. David J. Smith, a pain management physician, and his office manager, Julia Ann Oertle, are charged in a federal grand-jury indictment with perpetuating a long-running scheme to commit healthcare fraud and to manufacture and distribute adulterated fentanyl. Smith made his initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate...

SAN DIEGO – Approximately 50,000 fake pills containing fentanyl were seized in a single enforcement operation in San Diego on June 28, 2022. Investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Narcotic Task Force (NTF) and the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) worked together to prevent the fake pills from being distributed...