WASHINGTON – Three Houston-area pharmacists, a doctor, and a pharmacy technician have been arrested for allegedly running three pharmacies and two clinics as “pill mills;” distributing hydrocodone, oxycodone, and other controlled drugs without a legitimate medical purpose. According to court documents, since January 2018, Chrisco Pharmacy (Chrisco), Keystone Pharmacy (Keystone)...

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Michael Belfiore, a former medical doctor, was sentenced by United States Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco to 23 years in prison for the illegal distribution of oxycodone causing the deaths of two patients and the illegal distribution of...

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...

RICHMOND, Va. – A Guatemalan national was sentenced today to 172 months in prison for his role as a maritime transportation manager in a large-scale Guatemalan drug trafficking organization (DTO). According to court documents, beginning in 2016, Amilcar Chavez-Barrera, 42, conspired to distribute over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine for distribution...

Greenbelt, Md., – A federal jury convicted El Salvadorian nationals Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, a/k/a “Insolente” and “Trankilo,” age 24, of Landover, Maryland, and Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, a/k/a “Reaper,” age 41, of Long Branch, New Jersey yesterday for conspiring to participate in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also...

Greenbelt, Md., – Edwin Kerry Smith, age 43, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and admitted that heroin he distributed to one victim resulted in the victim’s fatal overdose. The guilty plea was announced by Jarod Forget, Special Agent in...

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...

NORFOLK, Va. – Today, a Richmond man was the sixth and final defendant to be sentenced for his role in a multi-state anabolic steroid conspiracy that operated across the country. According to court documents, Clyde Edward Peele, 46, is one of six members of a trafficking network, led by Michael...

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth man, who was the 25th defendant associated with Operation High Tide, was sentenced today for his role in trafficking firearms and selling heroin. According to court documents, in 2017, Shon E. Melton, 32, of Portsmouth, was attributed with trafficking 19 firearms, including a concealable short...