EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Demarko Hines, 50, of Cahokia Heights, Illinois, was sentenced today to five years in federal prison for distributing crystal methamphetamine. Hines will also serve a four-year term of supervised release following his release from federal prison. On Feb. 23, 2021, a federal grand jury indicted...

SAN DIEGO – Suspected drug trafficker Rafael Orlando Ramirez Barillas, a Guatemalan national who was extradited to the United States from Guatemala on Thursday, February 10, 2022 to face international cocaine trafficking and maritime smuggling charges in the Southern District of California, appeared in federal court today and was ordered...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A federal grand jury in Kansas City returned an indictment charging a pharmacist with one count of tampering with a consumer product, one count of possession of tramadol by deception and subterfuge, one count of possession of zolpidem by deception and subterfuge, and one count of...

ST. LOUIS – The Drug Enforcement Administration announced Operation Overdrive, a new initiative aimed at combatting the rising rates of drug-related violent crime and overdose deaths plaguing American communities. Both St. Louis and Kansas City are among the 34 locations across 23 states where DEA efforts will be focused. Operation...

SAN DIEGO – Jahvaris Lamoun Springfield was sentenced in federal court today to 300 months in prison for selling the fentanyl pills that resulted in the fatal overdose of U.S. Army veteran Brendan James Gallagher on February 5, 2019. This is the longest sentence to date in this district for...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Louisville, Kentucky, man has been convicted of possessing more than two kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a rental vehicle after he was stopped on Interstate 44 in Jasper County, Missouri. Quennel Young, 31, was found guilty of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. U.S. District...

SAN DIEGO – Brayan Alberto Rodriguez-Alcala, an alleged Sinaloa Cartel drug trafficker, was extradited to the United States from Ecuador today. On October 19, 2021, a federal grand jury sitting in the Southern District of California returned an indictment charging Rodriguez-Alcala with participating in a long-running worldwide conspiracy to traffic...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Columbia, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for methamphetamine trafficking after he received a large package of methamphetamine shipped from California to distribute locally. Bryan Patton Tullous, 39, was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months in federal prison without parole. On Sept...

ST. LOUIS – On Feb. 8, 2022, federal charges were filed against Chuny Ann Reed, age 46. Reed is accused of distribution of crack cocaine (cocaine base) and fentanyl. These charges were a result of an investigation that began after a series of fatal overdoses that occurred at 4451 Forest...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Four defendants have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in a conspiracy that converted large amounts of liquid methamphetamine into crystal methamphetamine at a rented house within 1,000 feet of George Melcher Elementary School in Kansas City, Missouri. Jose Vieyra-Lopez, 37, a citizen of...