ASHEVILLE, N.C. – United States Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that law enforcement have dismantled a drug ring operating in Asheville, charging eight of its members with drug conspiracy and drug and firearm-related offenses. The 35-count criminal indictment was returned by the federal grand jury on April 2, 2019, and...

PORTLAND, Ore . – Paul Eugene Thomas, 38, of Portland, pleaded guilty on April 10, 2019, to one count of conspiring to manufacture, possess with intent to distribute, distributing marijuana, maintaining drug involved premises and one count of money laundering for his role in a vast conspiracy to traffic marijuana...

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Marcella Moore, 44, of Lewiston, Idaho, was sentenced to federal prison earlier today for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye sentenced Moore to 54 months in prison followed by three years supervised release. Judge Nye also ordered Moore to pay...

PORTLAND, Ore.—Esteban Guillen Ramirez, 53, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, was sentenced on April 7, 2019, to one year in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for his role in a complex black market peso exchange money laundering scheme. The scheme was uncovered in 2015 following a lengthy investigation by...

SEATTLE – Three members of an international drug trafficking organization pleaded guilty on March 25, 2019, in U.S. District Court in Seattle to distributing more than a thousand kilograms of marijuana. The defendants admitted in their plea agreements that they used money from conspirators in the Peoples Republic of China...

SPOKANE, Wash. – Dr. James Stein-Sheridan Shelby, 50, of Spokane, pled guilty on March 20, 2019, to conspiring with Timothy James Felch, 36, also of Spokane, to distribute opioid pain medications, hydrocodone and tramadol, without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice. Shelby also pleaded...

SAVANNAH, GA -- 17 additional defendants indicted on drug trafficking and firearms charges as part of Operation Vanilla Gorilla have pled guilty in federal court, bringing to 33 the total number of guilty pleas only months after charges were filed. Operation Vanilla Gorilla, an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug...

AUGUSTA, GA -- A Waynesboro pharmacist is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to illegally obtaining opioids for his own use. Wilton Clinton “Clint” Meeks III, 55, of Waynesboro, Ga., pled guilty on Tuesday, March 19, 2019, to acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, deception, or subterfuge, said Bobby L. Christine...

SAVANNAH, Ga: Two people are facing substantial prison sentences and fines after pleading guilty to federal heroin trafficking charges. Gary Johnson , a/k/a “G,” 44, and Jamison Lanier , a/k/a “Monica Lewinsky,” 36, both of Savannah, have each pled guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and Conspiracy...

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A multi-agency operation in the Southern District of Georgia is receiving national recognition for dismantling a major drug trafficking organization whose methods included delivering contraband to prisons with drones and using funding from a lottery winner. The Southern District’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force received the...