TAMPA , Fla . – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Arnulfo Rodriguez-Munoz, (41, Fort Worth, TX), Enrique Velasquez (43, Dallas, TX), Heriberto Castillo, (44, Denton, TX), and David Ceballos (27, Alvarado, TX) with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy that converted large amounts of liquid methamphetamine into crystal methamphetamine at a rented house near George Melcher Elementary School in Kansas City, Mo. Ruben Ortiz-Vieyra, 43, a lawful permanent...

ST. LOUIS – A man from Hazelwood, Missouri, admitted on Tuesday to selling fentanyl that killed a Lake St. Louis, Missouri, man last year. Stephen Paul Jefferson Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to a felony charge of distribution of fentanyl. Jefferson admitted...

ST. LOUIS – Two men from St. Louis County pleaded guilty Monday and admitted their involvement in a retaliatory murder in 2020. Cevone Weeden, 26, pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to two counts: conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled...

WASHINGTON – A federal court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting a Tampa-area physician from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances, the Department of Justice announced today. In a complaint filed on July 18, and unsealed yesterday, the United States alleges that Dr. Neelam Taneja Uppal unlawfully wrote opioid prescriptions...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Former Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office deputy Joseph Barnes, Jr., 54, of Chattahoochee, Florida, was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of giving a false statement to a federal officer. The sentenced was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney...

WASHINGTON – A federal court ordered a Tampa-area pain management clinic to close and directed the clinic’s owners and its former physician to collectively pay $600,000 in civil penalties pursuant to agreed resolutions in a case alleging violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Justice Department announced today. In...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Eighteen defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine in southwest Missouri after law enforcement officers seized approximately 29 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately $57,000, and firearms. Brian E. Hall, 45, of Aurora, Mo., Jacqueline...

MIAMI - Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division has issued a Public Safety Alert to warn Florida communities of the increase of mass-overdose events across the state suspected to be related to drug supplies laced with a synthetic opioid. While law enforcement agencies continue to investigate these...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla . – Shawn Andrew Wilson (47, Fernandina Beach) has been sentenced to seven years and eight months in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and for violating the conditions of...