LOS ANGELES— A Los Angeles man was arrested late Monday night on a federal grand jury indictment alleging he provided fentanyl-laced pills to a 15-year-old who died on July 8, 2021 after taking the pills. Johnny Castillo, 18, is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon...

FRESNO, Calif. — Randal Jason Newell, 41, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon and Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. According to court documents, on Dec. 5, 2020, Newell drove from Bakersfield to...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Physician Edmund Kemprud, 78, of Dublin, was convicted today of 14 counts of illegally prescribing opioids and other controlled substances patients, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to evidence presented at trial, Kemprud was a physician licensed to practice medicine in California and worked in...

FRESNO, Calif. — Uriel Ivan Portillo, 35, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon and Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, on Nov. 21, 2019, Portillo distributed 5,000...

LOS ANGELES —Today, law enforcement investigators served nine arrest warrants in multiple locations throughout Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. In March of 2020, the DEA launched Operation Crystal Shield to focus efforts on main U.S. methamphetamine trafficking transportation hubs. DEA identified eight major methamphetamine transportation hubs where Operation Crystal Shield...

LOS ANGELES —The culmination of a three-month investigation resulted in a Santa Barbara methamphetamine distributor being sentenced on November 8, 2021 to 180 months in federal prison for narcotics violations. Cesar Castillo-Pena, 35, of San Bernardino, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner. On July 28...

LOS ANGELES – An Arizona man has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge for supplying counterfeit pharmaceutical pills containing fentanyl to the drug dealer accused of selling them to rapper Mac Miller, who soon afterward suffered a fatal overdose, the Justice Department announced today. Ryan Michael Reavis...

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned two indictments today, charging two Fresno County men with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute it, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. In addition to being charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, Uriel Diaz-Santos, 19, of Fresno, was...

LOS ANGELES – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a Public Safety Alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. DEA’s Public Safety Alert, the first in six years, seeks to raise public awareness of a significant nationwide...

FRESNO, Calif. — Jose Reyes-Pineda, 48, of Anaheim, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, Reyes and co-defendants Genaro Serrato-Calles, 51, and Antonio Valencia-Hernandez, 65, both of Modesto, and Antonio Castellanos, 38, of Whittier, were charged with conspiring...