United States Drug Enforcement Administration

TAMPA, Fla. – A federal grand jury today returned an indictment charging Damian Sierra, 41, of Port St. Lucie, with possessing 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute. If convicted, Sierra faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, up to 40 years, in federal prison...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – A 12-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Daniel E. Russo, a pharmacist, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone, distribution and possession of oxycodone, distribution of oxycodone by a pharmacist without legitimate prescription and filing false tax returns...

TRENTON, N.J. – DEA New Jersey Division Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Craig Carpenito announced a Pennsylvania man and two Mercer County, N.J., men today admitted their roles distributing heroin in and around Trenton. Duane Paulino-Escalera, 27, of Philadelphia...

ALBANY, N.Y. – Jacob Ebel, 32, of Niverville, N.Y., was sentenced today to 18 years in prison after admitting that he distributed heroin and fentanyl to two people who died in Columbia County in July 2016. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith, DEA New York...

PORTLAND, Ore . – Darlene Michelle Sturdevant, 61, of Vancouver, Wash., was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison and five years’ supervised release for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin throughout the Portland metropolitan area, possessing with intent to distribute heroin, and committing an...

DES MOINES, Iowa – Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration Des Moines Resident Office partnered with the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, United States Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations to take down 21 high-ranking members of the Jesse Sanchez Drug Trafficking Organization based out of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a ceremony today at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., DEA Chief of Operations D. Christopher Evans was appointed by Attorney General William P. Barr to the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. On Oct. 28, 2019, President Donald J. Trump...

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Drug Enforcement Administration yesterday announced that a member of a large drug trafficking organization was sentenced. Byron A. Lawson, age 40, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced as part of Operation Hidden Fee, an extensive federal, state, and local investigation by the Middle District Organized...

SAN DIEGO – Egisto Salerno, a medical doctor practicing in San Diego, pleaded guilty to opioid distribution in federal court today, admitting that he signed bogus prescriptions for multiple deceased or incarcerated patients. According to his plea agreement, Salerno, 75, illegally distributed 78,544 hydrocodone pills. Hydrocodone is an opioid pain...

FRESNO, Calif . — The Medicine Chest Pharmacy in Fresno has agreed to pay $27,500 to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott and DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux announced today. The settlement was reached in October, the sale of...