SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.

In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”

The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.

Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.

She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.

Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.

What came next?

About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.

She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.

The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.

Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:

“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction. 

Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.  

There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.  

If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide. 

Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not. 

I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.  

• On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.  
• On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge. 
• On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.  
• On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.  
• On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.  

I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in. 

New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business. 

I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”  

In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of prison inmates sued the state of Oregon, arguing it was failing to protect them from the surging public health threat.

On Wednesday, more than six years later, representatives of those inmates—and the estates of inmates who died of the disease—announced they have settled with the state for a massive $49 million.

In a separate news release, Gov. Tina Kotek’s office framed the deal as a way to efficiently resolve a complex and weighty legal dispute: State officials, her office said, determined that the settlement “was in the best financial interest of the state and would minimize the continued distress of those impacted to settle rather than continue with the litigation.”

The case, Maney v. Oregon, includes two class action suits filed during the pandemic. According to the Oregon Justice Resource Center, which represented plaintiffs in the case, the suit covers about 5,000 people who were in Oregon Department of Corrections custody between Feb. 1, 2020, and May 31, 2022.

One class, which includes those who tested positive for or were diagnosed with COVID-19, would get $15.9 million under the deal. The other, the estates of 38 incarcerated people who died from COVID-19, would receive $33 million.

The settlement awaits approval by a magistrate judge, and most of the payout requires an appropriation by the Oregon Legislature during the coming 2027 session.

The suit emerged out of the dark early days of a still-mysterious pandemic—which posed clear risks in closed spaces like prisons. The OJRC says inmates in Oregon endured prolonged lockdowns, disruptions to prison operations, and suspension of visitation and programming.

They also died of COVID at far greater rates than Oregonians in general. The UCLA Law COVID Behind Bars Data Project tallied 52 deaths in Oregon prisons tied to COVID. By June 2021, according to the Marshall Project, the state’s prisons had one of the highest rates of COVID-related deaths in the country.

“We initiated this suit to protect the lives of some of our society’s most vulnerable people, packed into aging facilities with no ability to social distance from each other or [prison] officers,” said Juan Chavez, director of the OJRC’s Civil Rights Project, in a written statement. “The horrors that then came to pass during the pandemic shocked and saddened us. But we also saw, and were inspired by, the resilience and solidarity held amongst incarcerated people.”

Kotek’s office noted the mitigation measures the Department of Corrections implemented amid the pandemic, and said the agency incorporated lessons from the era into its operations.

“This historical event placed significant demands on our corrections workforce, and I appreciate the dedication DOC employees demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kotek said in her statement, adding that it was important to remember the impact on incarcerated people and their families too, especially those who lost loved ones. This settlement, she said, “is an opportunity for people to heal and find closure after such a challenging chapter in Oregon’s history.”

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Edwin Munk Woolley died on June 19, 2026, in a canyoneering accident in Zero Gravity canyon in the San Rafael Swell in Southern Utah. He was born October 28, 1974, in Salt Lake City, Utah to James and Jeanette Woolley. The youngest of four children, he exemplified all the best qualities of the baby in the family: funny, adaptable, sociable, and adventurous.

Growing up, he skied as soon as he could walk, excelled at Zim-Zam, roamed the Federal Heights foothills and threw snowballs at passing cars with his pack of life-long friends. Although his high school attendance record was less than stellar, he was a proud and committed member of the East High Leopard hockey team. Hockey was a huge part of his life and he cherished playing on a late-night team with some of his closest friends.

A life-long Utah enthusiast, he graduated from the University of Utah and lived in the Millcreek area of Salt Lake City. He served a faithful mission in Rome, Itay for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There he gained a love and appreciation for everything Italian, people, culture and especially the food. He built his career in various roles at Goldman Sach’s Salt Lake bank. He married Whitney Scott in the Salt Lake temple in 2006 and they had four children. Eddie’s family was the greatest joy of his life. He was a deeply engaged husband and father. He treasured his wife and cherished his children, supporting their pursuits and encouraging them through times good and bad.

Eddie was an excellent athlete and took full advantage of Utah’s outdoor opportunities. He was an expert skier, water-skier, and mountain biker. He also loved riding dirt bikes and helicopter-skied across the globe; he generally reveled in all things outdoors. He particularly loved introducing his children to all his activities, encouraging them with patience, humor, and occasionally a firm nudge.

He was an avid sports fan, cheering on the Utes, Mammoth and Dallas Cowboys and would follow a variety of professional teams and players, but only those who lived up to his exacting standards. As a devoted hockey fan, he was delighted when Salt Lake acquired a team and had strong opinions on name selection. Some of his favorite times were cheering on the Mammoths with his kids, all of whom he managed to convert into fans.

While he loved all the wild places, Snowbird, Southern Utah, and Hebgen Lake, Montana were favorites. Southern Utah brought adventure and challenge, while Hebgen meant water-skiing, boating, and meaningful time with family and friends. One of Eddie’s greatest passions in life was teaching his kids how to ski at his beloved ski resort, Snowbird. Eddie had a season pass at Snowbird ever since he was four years old.

Eddie had a gift for finding common ground and connection with everyone he met. He gave the good Samaritan a run for his money, always jumping in to help without reservation or complaint. He was up for any challenge, always with a positive, can-do attitude. He found purpose and comfort in the church and served admirably in many callings.

Eddie is survived by his adored wife, Whitney Scott Woolley, his four children, Sadie (17), Spencer (14), Savanna (9), and Lewis (7) Woolley, and his father James Woolley. In addition, his siblings (Sue, Calvin, and Camille), in-laws (Brad and Kathy Scott), nieces, nephews, cousins, and countless friends are bereft at the loss of his buoyant presence and will always treasure his memory.

Viewings will be held on Friday, June 26, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday, June 27, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Canyon Rim Stake Center, 3051 S. 2900 E., Salt Lake City, Utah 84109. Funeral services will be held at the Canyon Rim Stake Center on Saturday, June 27, at 12:00 p.m. Interment will follow at Larkin Sunset Lawn, 2350 E. 1300 S., Salt Lake City, Utah.

A livestream of the funeral services can be accessed via the following link: Zoom Link