ST. LOUIS – A federal grand jury indicted Derek Rockette of St. Louis for charges that include conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. The indictment also alleges in a money laundering conspiracy charge that Rockette, Norma Corina Armenta-Lizarraga, Jian Zhong Fang, Yuede...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A federal grand jury in Kansas returned an indictment charging an Overland Park, Kansas, man on two counts of tampering with a consumer product, one count of possession of fentanyl by deception and subterfuge, and one count of possession of hydromorphone by deception and subterfuge. According...

ST. LOUIS – The Drug Enforcement Administration, along with its law enforcement partners, has removed close to 745,000 pounds of unneeded prescriptions from medicine cabinets across the country as part of DEA’s ongoing commitment to turn the tide against the U.S. opioid epidemic. Following last month’s 21st National Prescription Drug...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A San Diego, California, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury after smuggling nearly eight pounds of fentanyl aboard a bus traveling through Kansas City, Missouri. Jonatan Gutierrez, 28, was charged with possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute, in an indictment returned by...

ST. LOUIS – This week the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrested 17 people in Missouri, Arizona, California, and Mexico linked to an organized multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy. According to the previously sealed 16 count indictment returned on October 13, 2021, this was a...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Deonta J. Thomas, 29, of Collinsville, Illinois, was sentenced in federal court in East St. Louis Oct. 18 to 10 years imprisonment for distribution of methamphetamine. Thomas pled guilty to this offense on May 20, 2021. As part of his guilty plea, Thomas acknowledged that...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A West Plains, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Howell, Greene, and Texas counties. Jose I. Gonzales, 39, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 10 years in federal prison without parole...

ST. LOUIS – Kevin Karll of Jefferson County, Missouri, pleaded guilty today for the crimes of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Sentencing has been set for Jan. 11, 2022. Kevin Karll is the first defendant to plead guilty in a multi-defendant conspiracy to distribute...

ST. LOUIS – Keith A. Kos, Jr., of St. Charles, Missouri, pled guilty yesterday for the crimes of distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and knowingly possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Sentencing is set for January 18, 2022. According to...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Four people received prison sentences following convictions in relation to a drug trafficking ring that operated for years in the Kansas City metropolitan area. According to court documents, the Jackson County Drug Task Force began an undercover operation in 2016 surrounding a drug trafficking ring. The...