Washington, D.C. — The Justice Department, together with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), today announced a $50 million settlement with Walmart Inc. (Walmart) to resolve allegations that Walmart pharmacies illegally filled thousands of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). “This...

Washington, D.C. - The leader of a Dominican Republic-based international cocaine trafficking and money laundering organization was extradited from Colombia to the United States yesterday to face drug trafficking charges filed in two separate indictments in the Districts of Puerto Rico and New Jersey as well as money laundering charges...

MINNEAPOLIS – United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced that Steve Michael Kelley, 58, a former nurse who worked at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, was indicted by grand jury for one count of obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge. His initial appearance was...

CONCORD, N.H. – Massachusetts pharmacist Rima Gerges-Maalouf, 60, pleaded guilty in Federal Court to diverting controlled prescription drugs while working as a pharmacist in New Hampshire, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces. As set forth in the plea agreement, in August 2024, Gerges-Maalouf served as a per diem pharmacist at a...

BOISE, Idaho – Andrew Rumbo-Ochoa, 28, of Santa Clara, California, was sentenced to 92 months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. According to the investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U. S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation, Rumbo-Ochoa...

OAKLAND – The government of Mexico recently deported Julio Palafox, a United States citizen, to the United States where he was arrested by the United States Marshals on a warrant to appear on charges stemming from his alleged involvement in the distribution of methamphetamine in the Bay Area. U.S. Marshals...

Kingwood- A Texas physician was sentenced yesterday to 12.5 years in prison for operating her Kingwood medical clinic as an illegal pill mill that issued prescriptions for over 3 million opioid pills. According to court documents, Maryam Qayum, M.D., 68, of Montgomery County, Texas, owned, operated, and was the sole...

SEATTLE – A 65-year-old national of the Dominican Republic, who was arrested in Colombia and extradited to the U.S., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 96 months in prison for conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to launder money, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil...

AUSTIN, Texas – Total MD Physicians Group, P.L.L.C., doing business as Total Men’s Primary Care, and Dr. Mason Jones, a physician registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration to handle controlled substances at several Total Men’s Primary Care clinics in the Austin area, have agreed to a consent judgment requiring them...

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey announced that two Colombian nationals made their initial appearance in a federal court in Grand Rapids on Friday after they were extradited to the United States on Thursday. According to the indictment, from November 2024 through...