ASHEVILLE, NC – Brandon Todd O’Dell, 34, of Hiawassee, Georgia, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to documents filed with the court and today’s...

ASHEVILLE, NC – U.S. Attorney Dena J. King announced today that Benjamin Dann Owens, 36, of Hayesville, N.C., was sentenced to 312 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, Oxycodone, and other narcotics as...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Megan Emily Tate, 28, of Sylva, N.C., appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf this morning and pleaded guilty to distributing a substance that contained fentanyl which resulted in serious bodily injury, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert...

SAN DIEGO - William Estuardo Lemus-Lara, aka “Humilde,” a high-level cartel boss from Guatemala, was sentenced in federal court today to 210 months in federal prison. According to public documents, Lemus-Lara was identified as the leader of a transcontinental criminal organization that moved multi-ton quantities of cocaine from South America...

SAN DIEGO - Kaylar Junior Tawan Beltranlap, a 21-year-old San Diego resident, was sentenced in federal court today to 156 months in prison for distributing counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that resulted in the death of 15-year-old Coronado High School sophomore Clark Jackson Salveron on May 12, 2021. Beltranlap...

SAN DIEGO - Alexander Michael Randise of Ocean Beach was sentenced today in federal court to 188 months in prison for distribution of fentanyl that resulted in the fatal overdose of 30-year-old Tyber Joseph Lustig. According to his plea agreement, Randise admitted providing four counterfeit M-30 pills laced with fentanyl...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A federal jury in Asheville has convicted Tarrell Leshaun Williams, 42, of Cherokee, N.C., of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field...

AUGUSTA, GA – A Georgia prison inmate who led an Augusta-area methamphetamine-trafficking ring has been sentenced to more than two decades in federal prison. Magnum Jelani Neely, 38, of Millen, Ga., an inmate at Dooly State Prison, was sentenced to 278 months in federal prison after previously pleading guilty to...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Savitz Drug Store, Inc., has agreed to pay $275,000 to resolve allegations that it committed recordkeeping and dispensing violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). These requirements are designed to prevent the diversion of controlled substances. This civil settlement includes a corrective action plan and is the...

SAVANNAH, GA – The final sentence in a major methamphetamine trafficking operation signals the end of a prosecution that saw nearly three dozen defendants sent to prison after pleading guilty. Kristin Sheppard, a/k/a “Kristin Shine,” a/k/a “K Shine,” 32, of Savannah, was sentenced 111 months in prison followed by five...