All USAO Press Releases

On May 24, 2023, Senior United States District Court Judge Callie V. Granade sentenced Lavarance D. Nettles to 60 months imprisonment for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl. Nettles had previously plead guilty to the offense.

MACON, Ga. – Two co-conspirators involved in an armed drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing 16 kilograms of methamphetamine in Middle Georgia had court hearings recently. Tamara Hall, 40, of Warner Robins, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 210 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after she previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine on April 19, 2022. Benjamin Luopa, 48, of Warner Robins, pleaded guilty to two counts of use of a communication facility. Luopa faces a maximum sentence of four

United States Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama announced that United States District Judge Kristi DuBose sentenced defendant Jose Fulwood, 26, to 12 months and one day in prison for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. Fulwood entered a guilty plea to this offense on February 9, 2023.

Dennis Elmo Haskew, 42, of Thomasville, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by United States District Judge Kristi DuBose for distribution of child pornography. Haskew entered a guilty plea to this offense on January 26, 2023. 

TUCSON, Ariz. – Sinisa Djurdjic, 50, of Tucson, Arizona, was convicted on May 19, 2023, by a federal jury on charges of Visa Fraud and Attempted Unlawful Procurement of Citizenship. The guilty verdicts came after a nine-day jury trial before United States District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps.

James Ellner, M.D., and his Woodstock, Georgia pain management practice, Georgia Pain Management, P.C., and ambulatory surgical center, Samson Pain Center, P.C, agreed to pay $625,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by submitting improper claims to the Medicare and TRICARE programs for evaluation and management services and medically unnecessary urine drug screening tests.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA —Two Jamaican nationals – Tyrell Harris, 32, and Errol Durrant, 60 – were each sentenced to more than five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to their roles in a fraudulent lottery scam that targeted elderly victims around the country.

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Gilberto Alarcon-Holguin a/k/a Beto, 55, a Mexican national, was arraigned in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York on charges of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to launder the illicit proceeds charges. In December 2022, Alarcon-Holguin was arrested by Mexican authorities in Mexico pursuant to an extradition request from the United States. He was extradited from Mexico to the United States on May 26, 2023. 

NEW ORLEANS – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that NEW ORLEANS STEAMBOAT COMPANY (“NOSC”), was charged on May 26, 2023 with violating the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) in connection with a discharge of excess ballast material into the Industrial Canal in New Orleans in 2019.

A Kansas man was indicted by a federal grand jury for using guns, death threats and racial slurs to intimidate Black people and interfere with multiple federally-protected rights.