TAMPA , Fla. – U.S. District Judges Thomas Barber and Virginia Covington sentenced Marvin “MJ” Mitchell (36, St. Petersburg) to 15 years in federal prison, Christopher Hughes (44, Clearwater) to 8 years in federal prison, and Emma Leifer (26, Clearwater) to 6 years and 6 months in federal prison for...

ORLANDO, Fla . – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that a federal jury has found Juan Carlos Garcia (39, Apopka) guilty of conspiracy and possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute it. Garcia faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for...

FORT MYERS, F l a . – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber sentenced Shauntavus Berklin (34, Fort Myers) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing firearms as a convicted felon and distributing fentanyl. The court also ordered Berklin to forfeit the firearms he illegally had possessed. Berklin had...

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Hector Enrique Veliz Villeda (30, Hialeah) pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Veliz Villeda faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has...

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven sentenced Virginia Garcia Moreta (35, Tampa) and Hector Rodriguez Mendez (47, Tampa) to 70 and 63 months in federal prison, respectively, for conspiring to commit money laundering. As part of their sentences, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in...

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallaher sentenced Michael Fisher, a.k.a. “Mark Wilson,” age 47, of Laurel, Maryland, today to 17 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his participation in a large-scale drug trafficking organization involving fentanyl, cocaine, and marijuana shipped from...

According to court documents, O'Neil Gayle, a.k.a. “Pat,” 33, pleaded guilty on June 30 to distributing nearly 150 grams of a fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl mixture in the Richmond metropolitan area and elsewhere within the Eastern District of Virginia. Between September 17, 2021 and November 18, 2021, Gayle sold to an...

WASHINGTON – A federal court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting a Tampa-area clinic, its operators and a doctor from administering, dispensing or distributing any controlled substances, including issuing prescriptions for opioids, the Department of Justice announced. In a complaint filed on Oct. 11 and unsealed Oct. 14, the United...

MIAMI – A South Florida fentanyl dealer whose product killed a man was sentenced this week to 20 years in federal prison for the distribution of a controlled substance. On April 15, 2021, Donte McCray met with another man at a 7-11 convenience store in Lake Worth, Fla., with the...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With the sentencing of the last of 16 defendants, federal prosecutors concluded prosecution of a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking organization operating primarily within Franklin and Gulf Counties. The convictions and sentences were announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. “Cooperative and...