RICHLAND, Wash.– On March 8, 2023, Senior United States District Judge Edward F. Shea sentenced Jonathan Scott Ard, 30, of Richland, Washington, to 12 years in in federal prison after his guilty plea to federal fentanyl and gun charges. Ard will also serve 5 years of federal supervision after he...

SEATTLE – Seven people have been indicted in the Western District of Washington in an investigation that began with a drug trafficking ring in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Over the past 36 hours, law enforcement has taken all of the defendants into custody, with three arrested in...

SEATTLE – A 31-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison for federal crimes related to his distribution of fentanyl pills in downtown Seattle and his armed shoplifting in Bellevue, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Kendall Alston was arrested on March...

Seattle – The leader of a violent, prolific drug trafficking ring was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, 36, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering and...

Seattle – The mid-level leader of a drug distribution cell that was one of the most violent seen in the Western District of Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Jose Daniel Espinoza, 35, was indicted and...

Yakima, Washington – On January 24, 2023, United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Alexis Sanchez-Gomez, 21, of Moxee, Washington, to 12 years in federal prison after his guilty plea to Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of a Drug-Trafficking crime. Sanchez-Gomez, a documented member of the Lower Valley Locos...

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Honduran man residing in Portland is facing federal charges after he was arrested moving two kilograms of rainbow-colored fentanyl and several firearms between two Portland-area motels. Jose Isidro Zuniga Torres, 47, has been charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to possess and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl...

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho--Dennen Trey George Fitterer-Usher, 24, of Spokane Valley, Washington, was sentenced this week to more than 14 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, in 2021, Fitterer-Usher met...

SEATTLE – Three significant drug trafficking groups responsible for trafficking more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine and hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills are facing federal charges tonight. Federal investigators and local law enforcement partners seized two RVs packed with meth and fake pills after they were driven from California...

OMAHA, Neb. – The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Division will join with communities across the nation in kicking off Red Ribbon Week, the nation’s oldest and largest drug misuse prevention awareness program, on Sunday, October 23. Landmarks across the five state division will light red in recognition of the...