United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Dallas - The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has agreed to pay $4.5 million to resolve allegations that its violations of the Controlled Substances Act allowed hospital staff to divert fentanyl and other dangerous drugs from the hospital, announced DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Eduardo A. Chávez. The...

COEUR D’ALENE – Dr. Eric Benson, an internist practicing medicine in Post Falls, Idaho, agreed to pay $110,000 to resolve allegations that he unlawfully prescribed opioids and other controlled substances to patients between 2014-2021. The settlement, which was based in part on Dr. Benson’s ability to pay, also restricts the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Physician Edmund Kemprud, 78, of Dublin, was convicted today of 14 counts of illegally prescribing opioids and other controlled substances patients, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to evidence presented at trial, Kemprud was a physician licensed to practice medicine in California and worked in...

FRESNO, Calif. — Uriel Ivan Portillo, 35, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon and Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, on Nov. 21, 2019, Portillo distributed 5,000...

DALLAS - A longtime drug dealer has been convicted of drug and gun crimes, announced DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez. Following a two-day trial, a federal jury convicted Jerome Thomas Watkins, 44, of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin; possession with...

LOS ANGELES – An Arizona man has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge for supplying counterfeit pharmaceutical pills containing fentanyl to the drug dealer accused of selling them to rapper Mac Miller, who soon afterward suffered a fatal overdose, the Justice Department announced today. Ryan Michael Reavis...

MIAMI – A Florida man pleaded guilty yesterday to unlawfully distributing opioids at his pain management clinic in Miami, Florida. According to court documents, Habib Geagea Palacios, 40, of Miami, owned a cash-only pain management clinic in Miami, Florida named General Care Center, Inc. At General Care Center, Palacios paid...

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned two indictments today, charging two Fresno County men with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute it, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. In addition to being charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, Uriel Diaz-Santos, 19, of Fresno, was...

SPOKANE, Washington – Christopher M. Valley, N.D., a Spokane-based naturopathic doctor, has agreed to pay $47,700 to resolve allegations under the Controlled Substances Act that he improperly prescribed controlled substances between December 2015 and December 2020. The Controlled Substances Act regulates certain drugs deemed to pose a risk of abuse...

NEWARK, N.J. – Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division Susan A. Gibson and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Rachael A. Honig announced a Monmouth County, New Jersey, doctor was charged today for his participation in a scheme to receive bribes...