DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
37 Results - Showing 21 to 30
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Washington Chief Issues Public Safety Alert: Dangerous Increase in Fake Rx Pills Containing Fentanyl

Washington, D.C. – Today, Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Washington Division issued a Public Safety Alert warning Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. residents of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl in our area. This DEA Public Safety Alert...
PRESS RELEASE

Southeast Missouri Health Organization Pays $1.6 Million Settlement for Invalid Prescriptions

St. Louis, Mo. - Saint Francis Medical Center of Southeast Missouri has agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to settle a civil suit by the United States, resolving claims under the Controlled Substances Act. The U.S. government alleged that Saint Francis employed a Farmington, Missouri, physician, Brett Dickinson, who...
PRESS RELEASE

Three Area Men Indicted for Distribution of Opioids

SAN ANTONIO – A federal grand jury in San Antonio returned an indictment this week charging two Kerrville men and an Ingram man with distribution of narcotics. According to court documents, Scott Mitchell Brown, 35, and John Henry Swiencki, 51, of Kerrville and David Jeffrey Hughes, Jr., 42, of Ingram...
PRESS RELEASE

Grand Jury indicts St. Charles Woman for Selling Prescriptions

ST. LOUIS – A federal grand jury issued a 25-count indictment Aug. 18 against Katie Diana Rooney charging her with health-care fraud and controlled substance offenses. At the time Rooney allegedly committed these offenses, she was a resident of St. Charles, Missouri. The indictment alleges that through fraud and deceit...
PRESS RELEASE

Dark Web Trafficker Pleads Guilty to Distributing Opioids

ALEXANDRIA, Va., – A Florida man pleaded guilty today to unlawfully distributing thousands of prescription opioid pills in exchange for over half a million dollars through the “dark web.” According to court documents, between 2012 and 2020, Daren James Reid, 35, of Fort Lauderdale, used the dark web to distribute...
PRESS RELEASE

Uxbridge doctor sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiring to distribute over 3.5 kilograms of amphetamines

BOSTON – An Uxbridge doctor was sentenced on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2020 in connection with her role in a scheme to prescribe Adderall to individuals without a legitimate medical purpose. Leslie Caraceni M.D., 58, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to seven years in prison and...
PRESS RELEASE

Buffalo woman sentenced for conspiring with a former local doctor to illegally distribute controlled substances

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Valley Stream man arrested for allegedly using doctor’s prescription pad to acquire thousands of opioid pills

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...
PRESS RELEASE

California woman sentenced to 27 years for meth conspiracy

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Pomona, California, woman was sentenced in federal court today for leading a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine in Jasper County, Missouri. Melissa R. Kivett, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 27 years in federal prison without parole. The case...
PRESS RELEASE

Federal charges filed in burglary at hospital

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge J. Michael Gannon and United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today, April E. Hayworth, 31, Indianapolis, and Christina A. Smith, 37, Indianapolis, were charged today on federal drug, conspiracy, and burglary charges. “During this COVID19 pandemic, it is vitally important...