United States Drug Enforcement Administration

TAMPA , F la. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that a federal jury found Dr. Qing McGaha guilty of 14 counts of unlawful drug distribution, four (4) counts of money laundering, and one (1) count of filing a false tax return. McGaha faces a maximum penalty of...

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Greene Pharma LLC, dba Greene Medical Arts Pharmacy (Greene Pharma), a pharmacy in Catskill, New York, agreed to pay $65,000 to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Special Agent in Charge Frank...

SAN JOSE, Calif. – A federal jury yesterday convicted family medicine physician Donald Siao of twelve counts of distributing the controlled substances Oxycodone and Hydrocodone outside the scope of his usual professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)...

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...

DENVER – Howard Weiss of Greenwood Village was sentenced to six months in federal prison for distributing a controlled substance outside the usual course of professional practice, for structuring financial transactions in a way to evade reporting requirements, and for engaging in monetary transactions greater than $10,000 that were derived...

Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte approved the United States’ consent decree with Abtin Youssefi-Rashti, a Montgomery County based pharmacist, and Upton Care Pharmacy, Inc. (“Upton Care”), resolving the United States’ civil allegations that Youssefi-Rashti and Upton Care violated the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) in illegally dispensing...

WATERBURY, Conn. - Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, has announced that RAMON OQUENDO, also known as “Mimo,” 46, of Waterbury, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 120 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised...

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...

MILWAUKEE - John J. McGarry, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Milwaukee, and U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on May 12, 2023, Michele Nickels. was sentenced to12 months and one day of imprisonment, to be followed by two years...

WASHINGTON – Today, ahead of the expiration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued the “Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications” – a temporary rule that extends telemedicine flexibilities...