A federal district judge in Ft. Pierce has sentenced a couple from Sacramento, California, to prison for their involvement in a drug trafficking operation linked to a foreign organization. Vanessa Vanly Kaiser, 50, received a six-year sentence, while her husband Ronald Robert Kaiser, 61, was sentenced to nearly four years. Both had pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiring to distribute controlled substances including methamphetamine.
The Kaisers' scheme operated for about six months in 2023. Customers across the United States purchased narcotics without prescriptions from an online pharmacy. The foreign drug trafficking organization supplied the drugs which the Kaisers then mailed to customers nationwide, including those in South Florida. They also handled payments on behalf of the organization. The drugs included Schedule II opioids and pills that appeared to be Adderall but contained methamphetamine. During this period, they distributed over 169,000 pills and funneled more than $500,000 using online money transfer applications and bank accounts.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida announced the sentencing along with Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter of the DEA Miami Field Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of FBI Miami; Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of HSI Miami; and Acting Inspector in Charge Steven L. Hodges of USPIS Miami Division.
The investigation was conducted by DEA Miami Field Division, FBI Miami, HSI Fort Pierce, and USPIS Miami Division with help from FDA-OCI and USMS.
Assistant United States Attorney Daniel E. Funk prosecuted the case.
Further details can be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida or through PACER under case number 24-cr-80069.