United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Laura Ricotta, 29, of Buffalo, who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and amphetamine, was sentenced to time served (approximately 15 months) by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. Assistant...

MINEOLA, N.Y. – Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division, Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan and Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Valley Stream man was arrested today for allegedly using a doctor’s prescription pad to acquire more than 13,000 oxycodone and morphine pills during a nine-month...

WASHINGTON – DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day brought in nearly a million pounds of unused, expired, and unwanted medications across the country, the largest amount ever collected in the program’s ten years. Americans once again showed their dedication to remove prescription pills from their homes to prevent addiction...

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Rodney W. Sippel sentenced today Angela K. Williams, M.D., to three years’ probation, $745 in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid and 100 hours community service today. The 34-year-old Brentwood, Missouri, resident pleaded guilty in January to fraudulently obtaining oxycodone. According to the...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Tameshwar Ammar, a former medical doctor in Roslyn, New York, pleaded guilty via teleconference to conspiring to illegally distribute oxycodone. Ammar was indicted in November 2019. On June 22, 2020, he relinquished his license to practice medicine. Today’s plea...

DALLAS - A Dallas doctor has pleaded guilty to a felony for prescription drug diversion crimes perpetrated on elderly victims, announced Eduardo A. Chavez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Field Division and U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. Dr. Edward Agura, 63, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge...

ST. LOUIS – Eleven individuals were indicted today by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to distribute controlled medications, such as oxycodone, without a legitimate medical purpose, obtaining controlled medication by deceit and subterfuge, paying and receiving illegal kickbacks for referrals to lab for urine tests of the patients, and...

SAN ANTONIO - In Del Rio, a federal grand jury added two new charges of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death to an existing 20-count indictment returned in May against Dr. Alfonso Luevano, announced DEA Houston Division Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy, U.S. Attorney John F. Bash...

WASHINGTON – The Drug Enforcement Administration today announced the launch of an enhanced system to help more than 1,500 registered drug manufacturers and distributors nationwide more effectively identify potential illicit drug diversion and combat the opioid epidemic. On Oct. 24, 2018, President Trump signed into law the “Substance Use–Disorder Prevention...

CHICAGO - A LaSalle County physician was sentenced today to 12 years in federal prison for illegally dispensing prescription medications, including opioids, in exchange for cash or sex. Constantino Perales, M.D., illegally prescribed oxycodone and Xanax to a patient, Andrew Strandell, knowing that Strandell would sell the pills on the...