CHICAGO – Todd C. Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division, announced drug trafficking charges filed with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office against two women. Vanessa Perez, 27, of Los Angeles, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with the intent...

CHICAGO – Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance C. Cole has appointed Todd C. Smith as the new Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA Chicago Field Division. SAC Smith succeeds Shane R. Catone, who was appointed by DEA Administrator Cole as the Associate Chief of Operations (ACO) for the...

CHICAGO, IL. - The owners of a northwest suburban Pizzeria and several other individuals have been charged with participating in a major narcotics trafficking operation responsible for importing kilogram quantities of heroin and other drugs into Cook County following a joint investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) and the...

CHICAGO, IL. - Two Chicago lawyers are among four defendants who were found guilty yesterday of participating in a $9.2 million mortgage fraud scheme by a federal jury after a nine-week trial. All four defendants were convicted of multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, and three of them on...

Seventeen San Antonio-based members of the Texas (TS) have been charged by federal grand jury indictment with conspiring to violate the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt (RICO) statute. The announcement was made today by United States Attorney Robert Pitman, DEA Special Agent in Charge Javier Pena, U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte, ATF Special...

HAMMOND, IN. - Fifteen alleged members or associates of the Latin Kings have been indicted for their alleged roles in a racketeering conspiracy in Hammond, Ind., and elsewhere, announced U.S. Attorney David Capp of the Northern District of Indiana and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s...

CHICAGO, IL. - Twenty defendants are facing federal narcotics charges here, including five alleged members of a Chicago-based cell of the Zetas Mexican drug cartel who were responsible for transporting millions of dollars in drug proceeds between Chicago and Mexico, federal law enforcement officials announced today. A joint investigation led...

MADISON, WI. - - John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Albano Xhixha, 22, Chicago, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 60 months in prison for conspiring to distribute marijuana. Xhixha pleaded guilty to this charge on September...

CHICAGO, IL. - - A suspended physician formerly affiliated with three Chicago hospitals is now facing federal charges, after similar state charges were dismissed last week, alleging that he attempted to distribute prescription drugs in exchange for sex. The defendant, Joshua D. Baron, a pediatric neurologist, was charged federally in...

MINNEAPOLIS, MN. - A 32-year-old Isanti man was sentenced on October 24, 2011 for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy. United States District Court Judge John R. Tunheim sentenced Benjamin Michael Saxton to 110 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to distribute 50 or more grams of...