BOSTON — On Wednesday, May 6, 2026, a Methuen man was sentenced in federal court in Boston for trafficking counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition, and using a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking offense.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Shawn Hart, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Hart was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2023. In October 2025, he pleaded guilty to distribution of more than 40 grams of fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, using a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense and being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Federal prosecutors say Hart was identified in August 2022 as a manufacturer and distributor of counterfeit pills containing controlled substances on the North Shore.
On Sept. 15, 2022, Hart distributed approximately 500 counterfeit Adderall pills containing 68 grams of fentanyl during a controlled purchase in North Billerica, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Hart is also alleged to have distributed approximately 100 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing suspected fentanyl, along with a 9mm privately manufactured firearm, commonly known as a ghost gun, containing 19 rounds of ammunition during a controlled purchase at his Methuen home on June 1, 2023.
Following Hart’s arrest, three additional firearms, a pill press used to manufacture counterfeit pills, and suspected narcotics in various forms and quantities were seized from his residence.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts reported that Hart is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of multiple prior state felony convictions. Those convictions include possession with intent to distribute a Class A drug in December 2003; armed robbery in June 2004, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison; masked armed robbery, breaking and entering a vehicle at night, and larceny in August 2004, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison; and assault and battery on a correctional institution guard in September 2004, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jarod A. Forget, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Field Office; and Thomas Greco, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Boston Field Division, announced the sentence.
The Methuen Police Department assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Wray of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.
