VIRGINIA MAN SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ILLEGALLY POSSESSING THOUSANDS OF FENTANYL PILLS, METHAMPHETAMINE PILLS, AND THREE LOADED GUNS

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Shanti Felton, 20, of Virginia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision, after he pleaded guilty to illegally possessing thousands of pressed fentanyl pills, hundreds of pressed methamphetamine pills, and three loaded firearms, including a pistol modified to function as a machine gun.

“This defendant was a drug and gun trafficker who posed a severe threat to the safety of our residents in Suffolk County due to his peddling of fentanyl-laced illicit drugs onto our streets and his cache of weapons,” said District Attorney Tierney. “I want to thank the Suffolk County Police Department and the United States Marshals Service for apprehending this dangerous individual, as well as thank the prosecutors in my office for securing a just conviction and lengthy prison sentence.”

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on October 19, 2022, members of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Suffolk County Police Department, and United States Marshals Service learned that Felton was hiding out at a residence in Bay Shore to avoid being apprehended for an alleged armed robbery that occurred in Virginia in May 2021.

When they approached the residence, Felton attempted to flee through a basement window while armed with a fully automatic and loaded pistol that had no serial number and was modified to function as a machine gun. After a brief standoff with law enforcement, Felton dropped the pistol and surrendered. Law enforcement then executed a search warrant at the residence, and recovered two additional loaded firearms, 4,035 blue pressed fentanyl pills, 220 orange pressed methamphetamine pills, $5,510 in cash, and four cellphones.

On October 30, 2023, Felton pleaded guilty to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, a Class A-I felony, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony, before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Anthony S. Senft Jr.

On January 16, 2024, Justice Senft sentenced Felton to 10 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. He was represented by Matthew Hereth, Esq.

The charges related to the alleged armed robbery that occurred in Virginia in May 2021 are still pending.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jacob Kubetz and Alyssa Costantino of the Narcotics Bureau, with investigative assistance from Special Investigator Paul Weeks of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Police Officer Jeremy Reichling and Detective Thomas Corso of the Suffolk County Police Department, and members of the United States Marshals Service.

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