TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Derrick Samuel Lewis (51, Sarasota) guilty of conspiracy, possession with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and possession with the intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. Lewis...

TAMPA, Fla. –Raymond Malara (38, Tampa) was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for trafficking cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana. The Court also ordered Malara to forfeit $ 37,820, which is traceable to proceeds of the offense. Malara had pleaded guilty on August 3, 2021. According to court documents, between...

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...

OCALA, Fla. –Devonne L. Walker (36, Lady Lake) was sentenced in federal court today to 25 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Walker had pleaded guilty on July 28, 2021. According to evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Walker was the leader and organizer of a...

ORLANDO, Fla. - With Halloween right around the corner, law enforcement officials are urging parents to check their children’s candy. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Orlando District Office has issued a warning to the public about products that look identical to common snack foods and candy, but actually contain high...

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Defendants previously indicted and later convicted in multiple cases for their participation in a methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana ring operating in Crestview, Fla., were sentenced last week in the Northern District of Florida. The prosecutions were the result of a large-scale multi-agency investigation spearheaded by the...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –Taree Lamott Armstrong, 30, of Haines City, Florida, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple drug-trafficking offenses. Jason R. Coody, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the sentence. According to court documents, on March 25, 2020...

OCALA, Fla. – An indictment was unsealed today charging Devonne L. Walker, 35, of Lady Lake, Florida, Tymane D. Hamilton, 29, of Phoenix, Arizona, and Kanisha D. Savage, 28, of Phoenix, Arizona with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison...

MIAMI – Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea today announced that the DEA will direct resources to help reduce violent crime in communities throughout the country. Under this initiative, called Project Safeguard, DEA will identify and prioritize ongoing drug trafficking investigations with a nexus to violent crime...

SEBRING, Fla. – On September 30, 2010, a multi-agency federal, state, and local task force conducted an operation in which more than 70 people were arrested on drug trafficking and gun marcharges. For more than a year, federal, state, and local law enforcement worked on a massive operation dubbed “Operation...