United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BRUNSWICK, GA: A pharmacist and a pharmacy owner await sentencing after pleading guilty to charges related to a conspiracy to unlawfully dispense controlled substances. Gilbert Nelson Weise, Jr., 58, of Jacksonville, Fla., faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to dispense controlled...

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the return of an indictment charging Dr. Qing McGaha (55, Tampa) with conspiracy to commit unlawful distribution of controlled substances and unlawful distribution of controlled substances for no legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice, as...

BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Joanna De Alba was sentenced by United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry to 96 months in prison for distributing, and possessing with intent to distribute, illegal drugs over the “dark web.” De Alba distributed an array of illegal...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A federal grand jury in Kansas returned an indictment charging an Overland Park, Kansas, man on two counts of tampering with a consumer product, one count of possession of fentanyl by deception and subterfuge, and one count of possession of hydromorphone by deception and subterfuge. According...

MIAMI – Several Highlands County men have been sentenced in South Florida federal district court to prison terms for their roles in a powder and crack cocaine drug trafficking ring that had become entrenched in the Lake Placid neighborhood of Highway Park, Florida. A law enforcement operation handled by the...

Baltimore, Md., – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced William Soyke, age 68, of Hanover, Pennsylvania to 37 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and dispense oxycodone, fentanyl, methadone, and alprazolam outside the scope of professional practice and not for...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Utica, New York man pleaded guilty yesterday to charges relating to his sale of over $1.2 million in opioid pills and counterfeit U.S. currency on multiple dark web criminal marketplaces. According to court documents, from around October 2016 through February 2021, Albie Pagan, 65, operated under...

The DEA Washington Division, an agency currently working to expand partnerships to offer targeted, full-scope solutions for the drug problems in Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia, today introduced a new webinar series, “Empowering DMV Healthcare Professionals.” The idea for this unique concept was crystalized during the pandemic, when overdose rates...

ROANOKE, Va. – Bryan Wade Lewis, a former pharmacist at Home Choice Partners in Roanoke, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court for tampering with a consumer product, hydromorphone, that affected interstate commerce. Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Washington Division and Acting United States Attorney Daniel...

SAN DIEGO –Escondido pain clinic doctor Bradley Chesler, M.D., has paid the United States $153,000 to resolve allegations that he overprescribed opioids. Dr. Chesler is a board-certified physiatrist who operates a pain clinic in Escondido, California. This settlement stems from the United States’ investigation into whether Dr. Chesler illegally prescribed...