News and reports from the Department of Justice.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARIA MALDONADO, 50, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing fentanyl.

Corey Buckley, 42, formerly of Plaistow, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.

U.S. Attorney Dena J. King announced today that Benjamin Dann Owens, 36, of Hayesville, N.C., was sentenced to 312 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, Oxycodone, and other narcotics as well as conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

A Worcester man pleaded guilty today to drug and firearm offenses.

A 46-year-old Marysville, Washington woman, who co-owned a Lake Stevens, Washington restaurant used for drug trafficking, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for distributing methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.

Brandon Todd O’Dell, 34, of Hiawassee, Georgia, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Patricia Ann Hemphill, 51, of Rock Hill, was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison after pleading guilty relating to a multi-state drug operation out of the Rock Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina area.

A Columbia, Mo., man and a Callaway County, Mo., man were sentenced in federal court today for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Boone and Callaway counties.

A former resident of Philadelphia, PA, has been sentenced in federal court to a total of 60 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release on his conviction of distributing cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a St. Charles County, Missouri man who received and distributed child pornography via social media and placed a hidden camera in a bathroom to record nude minors to 16 and one-half years in federal prison.

Eddie E. Kellom, also known as “Ace,” 23, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced today to three years and six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for distribution of fentanyl.

A 21-year-old Miami man who carjacked, kidnapped, and robbed five victims has pled guilty in South Florida federal court to 17 counts of violence. Stevenson Charles faces up to life in prison.

U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Khaled Abughanem, 50, and Waleed Abughanem, 32, both of Lackawanna, NY, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to kidnap persons in a foreign country. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

A former Staff Sergeant stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 22 years in prison for sex trafficking children, producing images of child sexual abuse, and traveling to sexually abuse children. Moeun Yoeun, 40, of Steilacoom, Washington, pleaded guilty in August 2022, admitting that young girls in the Philippines were threatened with death if they refused his sexual assaults. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle called the crimes “vicious, heinous, and cruel.”

A federal jury convicted two Kansas men of kidnapping, drug, and gun charges in connection with the 2019 torture of a victim in Kansas City, Kansas.