MIAMI — K-9 law enforcement officers from South Florida got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train their dogs on a seized 850-kilogram drug load of cocaine. This training is important because it allowed the dogs to experience their training but on a much grander scale. K-9s are used to searching street...

On March 26 Cesar Augusto Romero Caballero, of Colombia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge James Moody Jr. for conspiracy to distribute cocaine having reasonable cause to believe it would be unlawfully imported into the United States. Romero Caballero pleaded guilty on April 8...

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. – Tyquan M. Watson, 28, and Dezaneil D. Cosby Jr., 27, both of Tallahassee, Florida, were found guilty by a federal jury of conspiring to distribute marijuana as part of a large-scale conspiracy distributing hundreds of pounds of marijuana per week. The guilty verdict, returned at the conclusion...

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...

Orlando, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Patrick Hugh Mitchell, 57, of Orlando, to 10 years in federal prison and Kyle Jay Hunter Baronville, 37, Orlando, to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for their roles in distributing multiple pounds of methamphetamine. Baronville pleaded...

Orlando, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Gerit William Naber, 39, Palm Bay, Fla., to 11 years and 8 months in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine. Naber entered a guilty plea on June 24, 2024. According to the plea agreement, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the...

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Miranda Marie Stafford, 57, of Perry, Florida, was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of over 500 grams of methamphetamine, distribution of over 50 grams of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to...

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Rose Esquilin Rios (34, Winter Haven) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted, Esquilin Rios faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Esquilin Rios that the...

MIAMI – On July 29, Jordan Curry, 42, an Australian national from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to launder money and import cocaine from South America through the United States to Australia. According to the agreed upon factual proffer, from 2019 to 2021...

TAMPA, Fla. —U.S. District Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Corey Gaddy, 31, of St. Petersburg, Fla., to 18 years in federal prison for c onspiracy to distribute controlled substances including fentanyl and two counts of distribution of fentanyl. Gaddy was found guilty following a trial on November 3, 2023...