COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Matthew James Holmberg, 20, of Spokane Valley, Washington, was sentenced on July 19, 2023, to 19 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court records, Holmberg was involved...

SEATTLE – Two men who served key roles in a large, wide ranging drug distribution conspiracy were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to significant prison terms, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Aaron Alarcon-Castaneda (aka Sobrino), 38, of Chino, California was sentenced to six years in...

COEUR D'ALENE – Dalila Miller, 39, of San Diego, California, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, on October 23, 2020, U.S. Border Patrol agents spotted Miller’s vehicle in a remote area...

BOISE – U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced criminal charges against two defendants today as part of the Department of Justice’s 2023 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action. This two-week nationwide law enforcement action resulted in criminal charges against 78 defendants for their alleged participation in health care fraud and opioid...

SPOKANE, Wash. – United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Tustuji Matu Wakauwn, 43, of Pasco, Washington, to 15 years in federal prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by a felon. Judge Rice also ordered Wakauwn to serve ten years of...

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA—Former Advanced Nurse Practitioner Jessica Joyce Spayd (52) was sentenced in U.S. District Court yesterday to 30 years (360 months) imprisonment for illegally prescribing and dispensing opioids outside the scope of legitimate medical practice that resulted in the deaths of five people between 2014 and 2019. United States District...

BOISE – Rachel Peay-Goodman, a nurse practitioner in eastern Idaho, consented to judgment against her after admitting that she unlawfully prescribed controlled substances and submitted false claims to Medicare while working for AmeriHealth in Pocatello, announced U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit. The judgment found Peay‑Goodman civilly liable for violating the Controlled...

SEATTLE, Wash.--On April 22, 2023, DEA and its law enforcement partners came together once again to protect our communities from prescription misuse by safely disposing of 663,725 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country. Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Take Back...

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Mexican National residing in Marion County, Oregon was sentenced to federal prison today for his role in the 2019 kidnapping and murder of a Washington State man and other drug trafficking crimes. Marcos Alonso Castillo-Bernal, 48, was sentenced to 312 months in federal prison and 10 years’ supervised...

RICHLAND, Wash. – United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Jose Mendoza-Ruelas, 38, to 150 months in federal prison after his guilty plea to Conspiracy to Distribute 50 Grams or More of Actual (Pure) Methamphetamine, 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl, and 5 Kilograms or More of Cocaine. Mendoza-Ruelas...