DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
150 Results - Showing 71 to 80
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Issues Public Safety Alert on Sharp Increase in Fake Prescription Pills Containing Fentanyl and Meth

Newark, N.J. – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. DEA’s Public Safety Alert, the first in six years, seeks to raise public awareness of a significant nationwide...
PRESS RELEASE

National Healthcare Fraud Enforcement Action Results in Charges involving more than $1.4 Billion in Alleged Losses

WASHINGTON: A strategically coordinated, six-week nationwide federal law enforcement action has resulted in criminal charges against 138 defendants, including 42 doctors, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals, in 31 federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various healthcare fraud schemes for more than $1.4 billion in...
PRESS RELEASE

Penn North Fentanyl Dealer Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison

Baltimore, Md., – U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Jerold Gilliam, age 40, of Baltimore, Maryland to nine years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute a substance containing fentanyl and possession with the intent to distribute a substance containing fentanyl. The...
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

Darknet Drug Vendor Pleads Guilty to Distributing Illicit Prescription Drugs

ALEXANDRIA, Va., – A Georgia man pleaded guilty yesterday to distributing illicit prescription drugs over the Darknet and shipping them across the country via the U.S Postal Service. According to court documents, from around April 2020 through October 2020, Cullen Roberts, 23, of Duluth, Georgia, used the moniker “Pillpusher” to...
PRESS RELEASE

North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Suboxone, Oxycodone, other Pain Medications

ABINGDON, Va., – A Dobson, North Carolina man pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to distribute medically illegitimate prescriptions for Schedule II opioids and Suboxone, as well as conspiring to use, in the course of the distribution of controlled substances, the DEA registration number of another person. According to court documents...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Washington Division Issues Warning: “One Pill Can Kill”

Washington, D.C. – Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA Washington Division, is alerting all area residents to an increase in drug overdose deaths tied to counterfeit pills containing the powerful synthetic opioid, fentanyl. Manufactured by Mexican drug trafficking organizations, and marketed as a medication such as...
PRESS RELEASE

Winchester Woman Pleads Guilty to Distributing Acetyl Fentanyl and Fentanyl

HARRISONBURG, Va. – A Winchester woman pleaded guilty today to distributing acetyl fentanyl and fentanyl. According to court documents, Jennifer Lynn Heishman, 37, of Winchester, Virginia, contacted an individual on February 23, 2019, to arrange a purchase of heroin. Later that evening, Heishman paid $100 for two foil packets of...
PRESS RELEASE

Three Indicted on Federal Drug Distribution Charges

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A husband and wife from Fairfax and their cousin from Spotsylvania were indicted last month for conspiring to distribute controlled substances in Virginia. According to court documents, Fahid Rashid, 30, Akhter Ahmed, 28, and Khalisah Khan, 29, conspired to traffic counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. The defendants, and...