PHOENIX - On May 14, 2013, Brian Howes, 49, of Bo’Ness, Falkirk, Scotland, United Kingdom, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Readeto 70 months incarceration, three years supervised release, and a $1,000 special assessment. Howes pleaded guilty on Feb. 4, 2013, to ten separate counts of distributing a listed (Red...

PHOENIX - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman announced today that the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) reported the designation of eight Mexican nationals as Specially Designated Narcotics (SDNT) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation (Kingpin Act). The eight individuals, Cenobio...

PHOENIX - Today, Douglas W. Coleman, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement (DEA), announced that this past Saturday, DEA collected 60 percent more pills than the previous Take-Back event, demonstrating the public’s continued appreciation and need for the opportunity to discard unwanted, unused and expired prescription drugs from...

PHOENIX - With public participation at an all-time high after five prior events in two years, the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and its state, local, tribal, and community partners will hold a sixth Prescription Drug Take-Back Day across the state on Saturday, April 27th. Collection sites are open 10 a.m. to...

PHOENIX - The U.S. Marshals (USMS) coordinated “OPERATION JUSTICE V” during the week of April 15, 2013, arresting and booking 231 individuals with outstanding felony warrants. U.S. Marshals, state, local and federal partners collaborated to honor the victims of crime in Maricopa and Pinal County, in recognition of National Crime...

PHOENIX - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman and U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo, District of Arizona announced today, that Indalecio Castro-Ponce, 40, of San Luis, Ariz., was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and two counts of possession...

PHOENIX - Robert Gene White, 45, of Chandler, Ariz. was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and less than 500 grams of cocaine, conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of transactional money laundering. Nadunt Chibeast, 61, of Tempe...

PHOENIX - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman announced today the unsealing of an indictment against Jose Guadalupe Tapia-Quintero, 42, a Mexican national and high ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel. Tapia-Quintero was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2013 on various counts including Conspiracy...

NEWARK, N.J. - A federal jury has convicted Paul W. Bergrin, 57, of Nutley, N.J., of all 23 counts on which he was tried, including conspiracy to murder a witness and other racketeering, cocaine and prostitution offenses. The verdict was announced today by New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman...

NEWARK, N.J. - Two defendants today admitted their roles in one of the nation’s largest and longest running stolen identity refund fraud schemes ever identified, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. The scheme caused more than 8,000 fraudulent U.S. income tax returns to be filed, which sought more than $65 million...