SEATTLE– A top leader of a violent international drug trafficking organization that distributed heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine in the Puget Sound region, was sentenced today U.S. District Court in Seattle to 17 years in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Luis Arturo Magana-Ramirez, 35, of Fife, Washington, was...

HOUSTON – A medical clinic office manager has been sentenced for operating a pill mill clinic that unlawfully distributed over 600,000 opioid pills, announced Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. A federal jury convicted Andres...

SPOKANE, Wash. - Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that a federal grand jury has indicted Charles Lee Dickerson on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute 50 Grams of Actual Methamphetamine and one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute...

BOISE, Idaho – Cosme Palomo, 60, of Boise, was sentenced for federal drug crimes involving methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. On December 4, 2023, Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye sentenced Palomo to 87 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for distribution...

Seattle – The key source of drugs for a drug distribution ring operating in Skagit and Whatcom counties was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Enoc Martinez Lopez, aka “Victor,” 28, of Marysville, Washington, was the...

SEATTLE– Ten members of a South Puget Sound drug trafficking organization were indicted following a lengthy investigation that uncovered the trafficking of marijuana to East Coast locales, and the importation and distribution of fentanyl and cocaine in Western Washington. Multiple search warrants were served this morning and eight people were...

LAREDO, Texas – A 35-year-old Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer working at the Port of Entry in Laredo has been arrested, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Emanuel Celedon is set to make...

AUSTIN, Texas – An Austin man and two co-conspirators were sentenced in a federal court in Austin for their roles in the distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. According to court documents, David Lee Jr., 46, of Austin, Virginia Zepeda, 43, of Austin, and Jackie Lynne Chester, 37, of Taylor...

PLANO, Texas – A Laredo man pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas on the day his jury trial was set to begin, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Damien M...

HOUSTON – A Texas doctor has been sentenced to seven years in prison for operating a pill mill clinic that unlawfully prescribed over 600,000 opioid pills in exchange for cash. A federal jury convicted Dr. Oscar Lightner, 73, Laredo, April 11 of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances and conspiracy...