Three young Minnesota men — Oscar Becerra-Ruiz, Jasper William Johnson, and Raujaun Keon Varner, all between the ages of 19 […]
Three young Minnesota men — Oscar Becerra-Ruiz, Jasper William Johnson, and Raujaun Keon Varner, all between the ages of 19 and 23 — are facing federal charges in connection with an alleged scheme to hack into a Drug Enforcement Administration database and fraudulently obtain large quantities of prescription cough syrup containing codeine.
The Allegations
According to a federal indictment first reported by HipHopDX in December 2024, prosecutors allege the three men hacked the DEA’s practitioners and physicians system, known as RICS, and used it to order at least 300 pints of promethazine with codeine. The indictment charges the trio with conspiracy to acquire and obtain controlled substances by fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud, and four counts of aggravated identity theft.
Reporting on the case indicates the alleged scheme ran from December 2022 to August 2023. Court filings described in subsequent coverage state the men are accused of breaking into the DEA’s system, using stolen physician credentials to open accounts with pharmaceutical wholesalers, and ordering the codeine syrup through those fraudulent accounts.
Who Are the Defendants
The case has drawn outside attention primarily because of one co-defendant, Jasper William Johnson, who performs under the stage name Lil Shine and has a public profile in the underground “pluggnb” music scene. Oscar Becerra-Ruiz and Raujaun Keon Varner were charged in the same indictment, but public reporting on their individual roles, backgrounds, or legal representation remains limited compared to coverage of Johnson.
Where the Case Stands
Coverage of the case notes that the federal case has been public for roughly a year and a half as of mid-2026 reporting. Johnson was reportedly sentenced to 36 months in the DEA hacking case, according to a report on his sentencing tied to the release of his final project before that sentencing took effect. Public reporting reviewed here does not include confirmed sentencing, plea, or trial outcomes specifically for Oscar Becerra-Ruiz or Raujaun Keon Varner. Anything regarding their individual case status — whether it has been resolved, is pending trial, or ended in a plea agreement — is not confirmed in the sources available and should not be assumed either way.
Why It Matters
Cases like this one illustrate a growing category of prosecutions involving unauthorized access to federal prescription-monitoring and physician-verification systems, which are designed to prevent exactly this kind of diversion of controlled substances. Wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, as alleged here, carry substantial federal penalties, and cases involving healthcare-system intrusion tend to draw coordinated attention from the DEA, federal prosecutors, and increasingly, cybersecurity investigators given the hacking allegation.
