CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Savonte Watkins, 46, of Charlotte, to 42 months in prison on drug charges yesterday, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Bell also ordered Watkins to serve three years under court supervision after...

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...

WAYCROSS, GA: The leader of a south Georgia fentanyl- and heroin-trafficking operation linked to drug overdose deaths has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison. Eric Lashawn Hayes , a/k/a “Pee Wee,” 39, of Blackshear, Ga., was sentenced to 262 months in prison after previously pleading guilty...

AUGUSTA, GA- The lead defendant in a major methamphetamine-trafficking organization has been sentenced to two decades in federal prison after admitting his participation in a conspiracy related to at least one overdose death. Jayson Dwayne Wheatley, 42, of Augusta, was sentenced to 240 months in prison after previously pleading guilty...

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Robeson County man was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possessing with the intent to distribute thousands of illegal prescription pills including oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydrocodone, and methadone. On February 16, 2021, Jeffrey Randal Brooks, Jr., pleaded guilty to the charges...

AUGUSTA, GA – Seven people have been indicted on charges related to a major methamphetamine-trafficking organization blamed for at least one overdose death. As described in the newly unsealed indictment in USA v. Wheatley et. al, the investigation in Operation Wheat Fields dates back to early 2018 and includes allegations...

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA — Keowsha Golden, 36, of Greenville, was sentenced to more than 1o years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone. Evidence presented to the Court showed that Golden obtained prescription paper and then forged physician information to write prescriptions for 30 milligram oxycodone...

BRUNSWICK, GA: A pharmacist and a pharmacy owner await sentencing after pleading guilty to charges related to a conspiracy to unlawfully dispense controlled substances. Gilbert Nelson Weise, Jr., 58, of Jacksonville, Fla., faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to dispense controlled...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The leader of a conspiracy that used forged prescriptions to obtain and sell large amounts of highly addictive opioids has been sentenced to federal prison. Raheem Hardy, 29, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced to 55 months in prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A former Garden City, Ga., clinic owner and CEO has admitted to laundering money in connection with a notorious “pill mill” doctor who illegally dispensed massive amounts of controlled substances. Jamesetta Whipple-Duncan, 58, of Savannah, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of money laundering...