Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle has sentenced Nicolas Garcia Hernandez 27, Shelbyville, Tenn., to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Garcia Hernandez pleaded guilty on November 13, 2024. According to court documents, Garcia Hernandez, who had...

MIAMI – On Jan. 30, 2025, a federal district judge in West Palm Beach, Fla., sentenced Anthony Raul Del Valle, 29, of Lake Worth Beach, Fla., to 10 years in federal prison. The sentence comes after a federal jury found Del Valle guilty of distributing acetyl fentanyl and fentanyl and...

MIAMI – Four South Florida residents have been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl and meth. On Jan. 16, Gito St. Fort, 35, of West Palm Beach, Fla., a career criminal, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of a controlled substance resulting...

TAMPA, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, of Colombia, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, also of Colombia, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date...

MIAMI– On Dec. 10, Blake Alfonso Kolessa, 27, of Greenacres, Fla., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks for possessing with intent to distribute metonitazene, N-desethyl isotonitazene, and methamphetamine. Kolessa previously pled guilty...

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Billy Ruiz (46, California) guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Ruiz faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. His...

LOS ANGELES – A Palmdale man already facing one charge of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death has been charged by federal grand jury indictment with an additional count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death related to the death of a Palmdale man in August, the Justice Department announced...

LOS ANGELES – A Santa Clarita man has been arraigned on an indictment alleging he distributed protonitazene – a novel synthetic opioid that is up to three times more powerful than fentanyl – which resulted in a victim’s fatal overdose this spring, the Justice Department announced today. Benjamin Anthony Collins...

Orlando, Fla. – Senior U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell has sentenced Jackie Jamal Hines, 47, of Melbourne, Fla., to 10 years in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute multiple kilograms of cocaine. Hines pleaded guilty on May 30, 2024. According to court documents, a traffic stop was...

MIAMI — Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and more than 4,400 law enforcement partners recently collected nearly 630,000 pounds of unused medications at 4,600 locations nationwide. This effort to empty medicine cabinets helps prevent drug misuse before it starts. Since its inception, DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has removed...