United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SALT LAKE CITY - With less than six months remaining in 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD) has already seized nearly 800,000 fentanyl pills in Utah - a new record. In operations between January 1 and June 30, 2024, more than 774,000 fentanyl pills were seized...

HOUSTON - A 48-year-old Chinese national has been indicted for his part in a conspiracy involving the importation of what is believed to be the largest amount of fentanyl precursors found in the Southern District of Texas and one of the largest in the country. Minsu Fang aka Fernando is...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A Bellingham, Washington woman who was a redistributor for a fentanyl distribution ring was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Natasha Parkhill, 38, of Bellingham pleaded guilty in March 2024 and was sentenced today to 4 years in prison. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge...

ST. LOUIS – A doctor with an office in St. Louis and two employees have been indicted in U.S. District Court and accused of illegally prescribing controlled substances and health care fraud. Dr. David A. Parks, 66, James M. Bilderback, 58, both of Jefferson County, Missouri, and Michelle J. Scheer...

Spokane, Washington- Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that three men are facing federal drug charges. Osvaldo Guadalupe Soto-Orduno, Jose Roman Lizarraga Gerardo, and Jose Efrain Gonzalez Rodriguez were charged by criminal complaint with Conspiracy to Distribute 400 Grams or More...

EUGENE, Oregon—A Bend, Oregon man was sentenced to federal prison for possessing 20 pounds of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Isaac Kitashima, 48, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release. According to court documents, from August 2020 through June 2021, Kitashima and co-conspirators...

Tacoma – A former attorney from Mexico was sentenced June 21, 2024, to 90 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Gustavo Castellanos-Tapia, 38, of Burien, Washington, was a significant supplier of methamphetamine to a drug trafficking organization with ties to the...

SAN DIEGO – OptumRx Inc., a prescription drug benefit provider, has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations that it improperly filled certain opioid prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The settlement resolves an investigation initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) into whether, between April 2013...

CONCORD, N.h. – A Newbury woman pleaded guilty in federal court in connection to the diversion of dangerous narcotics by medical professionals, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces. Robin Nichols, 63, pleaded guilty to Tampering with Consumer Products. U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliott scheduled sentencing for September 24, 2024...

ALBUQUERQUE – An Albuquerque man was convicted by a federal jury, after less than 30 minutes of deliberation, of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between...