United States Drug Enforcement Administration

HARTFORD, Conn. - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TARA SEVERINO, 58, of West Haven, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to two years of probation, the first six months of which Severino must serve...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Osage Beach, Mo., nurse pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally obtaining fentanyl from a hospital for his own use. Charles Welch Jr., 65, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to a federal...

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging KYLE PETERSEN, 38, of Newington, and ERIK PETERSEN...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An anesthesiologist at a Lee’s Summit, Mo., hospital pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally taking prescription fentanyl from the hospital. Roman Peplinski, 37, of Kansas City, Mo., waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to...

ST. LOUIS – A Slovakian man was indicted this week on charges that accuse him of running a darknet market that sold drugs and stolen personal information. Investigators have shut down the market. Alan Bill, 30, of Bratislava, was charged by complaint in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Dec...

BOSTON – A Methuen man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly trafficking counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition and using a firearm in relation of a drug trafficking offense. Shawn Hart, 45, was charged with one count of...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Tuesday sentenced a registered nurse who stole fentanyl from the hospital where she worked to three years of probation, 200 hours of public service work and a $5,000 fine. Judge Limbaugh also ordered Lindsey M. Francis, 35, to...

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA—Former Advanced Nurse Practitioner Jessica Joyce Spayd (52) was sentenced in U.S. District Court yesterday to 30 years (360 months) imprisonment for illegally prescribing and dispensing opioids outside the scope of legitimate medical practice that resulted in the deaths of five people between 2014 and 2019. United States District...

ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Richard A. Philbrick, 37, of Jamestown, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 400 grams or more fentanyl. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A former Fuquay-Varina nurse was sentenced today to 48 months in prison and three years of supervised release for tampering with painkillers intended for surgery patients. On March 9, 2022, Melissa Elizabeth Chacona pled guilty to the charges. “Surgical patients trust healthcare providers to give them the...