FRESNO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment today against five individuals for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin announced. Alfonso Rios-Ayon, 43, of...

NEW ORLEANS - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that Noe Juarez, a resident of Houston, Texas, was sentenced today by a U.S. District Chief Judge to serve 365 months in prison for his role in a large-scale drug...

FRESNO, Calif. - Natalie Middleton, 30, of Clovis, pleaded guilty today to laundering proceeds from the sale of synthetic drugs, commonly known on the street as “spice,” Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin announced. “Spice” refers to a...

FORT SMITH, Ark. - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that 12 defendants who were all part of a drug trafficking organization in the Fort Smith area were sentenced to federal prison this...

BATON ROUGE, La. - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and United States Attorney Walt Green announced yet another conviction arising from Operation Goldy Locks, an extensive investigation into a multi-state heroin enterprise. Efrain Barajas, 27, of Hesperia, California, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to distribute...

FRESNO, Calif. - Patrick Mara, 36, of Bakersfield, a former detective with the Bakersfield Police (BPD), pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, between June 14, 2012, and October 2013...

NEW ORLEANS - Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Stephen G. Azzam and U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced the recent unsealing of a Superseding Indictment charging an array of federal narcotics and firearm violations by members of a drug trafficking organization operating in south Louisiana. The Superseding Indictment...

FRESNO, Calif. - Luis Fernando De La Rocha-Carlon, 26, of Stockton, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin and Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert jointly announced the plea. According to...

FRESNO, Calif. - Walter Watts Jr., 47, of Madera, was sentenced on Monday by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii to 2 ½ years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in...

SAN FRANCISCO - Kia Zolfaghari, King Edward Harris II, and Candelaria Dagandan Vazquez were named in a federal criminal complaint alleging that they conspired to run an illegal fentanyl pill manufacturing operation out of an apartment in the Sunset District of San Francisco, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch...