United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DALLAS, TX - Twenty-five alleged drug traffickers have been charged in “Operation Papercheck Fresh,” announced DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez. During a large-scale operation last Thursday – which involved eight law enforcement agencies targeting nine locations, including a recording studio in Dallas’ Bryan Place neighborhood –...

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Charles Benjamin Stewart, Jr., age 49, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on April 18, 2022, to eight years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine; for illegally transporting a firearm obtained out...

DALLAS, TX- An Arlington physician has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for fraud and drug crimes, announced DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez. In July 2021, a federal jury convicted physician Clinton Battle, 69, of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one...

Greenbelt, Md., – Edwin Kerry Smith, age 43, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and admitted that heroin he distributed to one victim resulted in the victim’s fatal overdose. The guilty plea was announced by Jarod Forget, Special Agent in...

SPOKANE, Washington – Christopher M. Valley, N.D., a Spokane-based naturopathic doctor, has agreed to pay $47,700 to resolve allegations under the Controlled Substances Act that he improperly prescribed controlled substances between December 2015 and December 2020. The Controlled Substances Act regulates certain drugs deemed to pose a risk of abuse...

ALBANY, NY – Dr. Larry Bruni has agreed to pay the United States $50,000 to resolve allegations that on numerous occasions from 2016 through 2020, he prescribed controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose or outside the usual course of a professional medical practice, in violation of the Controlled Substances...

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Ana Christina Avalos a/k/a “Christina Cazares-Quintero”, age 35, of Phelan, California, to 57 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. The sentence was announced by...

DALLAS – The DEA Dallas Field Division today announced the results of two Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operations targeting international drug and firearm trafficking between Mexico and Texas. Operations Trap Mansion and Two Birds and One Stone were a sustained state-wide effort of numerous federal, state, and...