United States Drug Enforcement Administration

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for possessing methamphetamine to distribute when officers found large amounts of illegal drugs in his room at a Camdenton, Mo., hotel. Anthony Martinez Harris, 49, was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in federal...

BRUNSWICK, GA: A pharmacist and a pharmacy owner await sentencing after pleading guilty to charges related to a conspiracy to unlawfully dispense controlled substances. Gilbert Nelson Weise, Jr., 58, of Jacksonville, Fla., faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to dispense controlled...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The leader of a conspiracy that used forged prescriptions to obtain and sell large amounts of highly addictive opioids has been sentenced to federal prison. Raheem Hardy, 29, of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced to 55 months in prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent...

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the return of an indictment charging Dr. Qing McGaha (55, Tampa) with conspiracy to commit unlawful distribution of controlled substances and unlawful distribution of controlled substances for no legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice, as...

FORT MYERS, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell today sentenced Gerald Michael Abraham, 76, of Naples, Florida. to three years in federal prison for dispensing controlled substances (oxycodone and amphetamine) for no legitimate medical purpose. The court also ordered Abraham to forfeit the following items to the United...

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A former Garden City, Ga., clinic owner and CEO has admitted to laundering money in connection with a notorious “pill mill” doctor who illegally dispensed massive amounts of controlled substances. Jamesetta Whipple-Duncan, 58, of Savannah, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of money laundering...

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...

ATLANTA - Thomas Ukoshovbera A. Gbenedio has been convicted by a federal jury of illegally dispensing and distributing controlled substances from his pharmacy. “Removing and ultimately eliminating healthcare providers who unlawfully dispense pharmaceutical products for non-medical reasons is an important part of DEA’s mission,” said Special Agent in Charge of...

ATLANTA – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with its law enforcement and community partners, has removed close to 745,000 pounds of unneeded prescriptions from medicine cabinets across the country as part of DEA’s ongoing commitment to turn the tide against the U.S. opioid epidemic. Following last month’s 21st National...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Lillian Elaine Brady, 53, Cherokee, N.C., to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, fentanyl and other narcotics, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert...