SAN FRANCISCO - Paul D. Woodward was arraigned yesterday for allegedly operating a scheme to defraud Medicare and allegedly distributing controlled substances. A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Paul D. Woodward and Karen Kramer on December 4, 2014. The indictment remained under seal until December 11, 2014, when...

PHOENIX - On January 13, 2015 a special TV report on the growing perils of heroin and opioid use in Arizona will broadcast simultaneously and commercial-free on 32 TV Stations in Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma and most of the state’s radio stations. The air time will be 6:30 p.m. (MST)...

FRESNO, Calif. - Chad Allen Riffle, 22, of Citrus Springs, Florida, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiring to structure cash transactions. According to the plea agreement and court documents, Riffle and seven co-defendants opened and maintained bank accounts for the purpose of funneling cash proceeds of drug trafficking...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Cedric Sewell, 51, of Stockton, pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, on March...

FRESNO, Calif. - Miguel Leontapia, 33, and Gilberto Chavez Leon, age 29, both Delhi residents, pleaded guilty Monday to conduct relating to a scheme to send methamphetamine to Hawaii. Leontapia pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and Leon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bulk smuggle...

FRESNO, Calif. - Eduardo Zazueta Garcia, 28, of Delhi, pleaded guilty today to possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. According to court documents, in August 2012, Garcia and his co-defendants obtained approximately three pounds of methamphetamine and attempted to ship it to Hawaii. Instead, law enforcement seized that...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Michael Lott, 39, of Vallejo, was sentenced to 14 years in prison yesterday after entering guilty pleas to drug trafficking charges in a wide-ranging conspiracy to distribute MDMA and crack cocaine. In imposing sentence, Chief United States District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. said the defendant was...

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Fortunato Rodelo-Lara and Jesus Wilfredo Almendares-Vasquez were convicted of two counts of engaging in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and one count of distribution of cocaine by a federal jury on Nov. 18, 2014, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent...

FRESNO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment today against Wenceslao Cruz Ochoa, 34, of Sacramento, charging him with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, on November 13, 2014, Ochoa was stopped by a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy on Interstate 5 for a...

FRESNO, Calif. - United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Gustavo Angel Salinas, 26, of Bakersfield, today to 21 months in prison for conspiring to violate federal narcotics laws. Salinas was sentenced following his guilty plea last August. According to court documents and proceedings, Salinas worked as a “budtender”...