Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ROBERT SHANNON, a/k/a “Tank,” was sentenced to 260 months in prison today for his participation in a large-scale narcotics trafficking operation that sold kilogram quantities of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine and for possessing firearms to protect the drug operation. SHANNON was convicted following a week-long jury trial in August 2022 before U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan, who imposed today’s sentence. On November 9, 2022, Judge Cronan sentenced co-defendant KAREEM RODERIQUE, a/k/a “Ernest Tucker,” to 200 months in prison.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “The sentence today reaffirms our judicial system’s unflinching commitment to hold narcotics traffickers accountable. Fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine promote violence, ruin lives, and destroy communities. These defendants sought to profit from trafficking significant quantities of these horrific drugs, using firearms to protect their operation, and were justly punished for their crimes.”
According to court documents and the evidence presented at the trial of SHANNON:
SHANNON, RODERIQUE, co-defendant NIKIA KING, and others ran a large-scale narcotics operation out of a narcotics mill and stash house in East Orange, New Jersey, while obtaining drug supplies and conducting a narcotics deal in the Southern District of New York. The defendants obtained large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine and utilized their stash house to mix, bag up, and prepare the drugs to sell to other drug dealers, who sold the drugs in the community. The defendants also obtained and kept two loaded firearms in the stash house to protect their drugs and supplies.
On October 27, 2020, law enforcement agents arrested RODERIQUE in the Bronx as he was attempting to purchase five kilograms of cocaine for the drug trafficking operation. Later that night, law enforcement agents arrived at the East Orange stash house as SHANNON and KING were exiting the residence. Shannon was carrying a weighted black bag from the residence to his car, where he was arrested. Inside of the vehicle, law enforcement agents recovered the weighted bag, which Shannon had attempted to hide behind the car’s dashboard. The black bag contained over 1,000 individual glassines envelopes of fentanyl and an additional bag contained over 1,000 doses of powdered fentanyl. Law enforcement agents searched the East Orange stash house — which was protected by security cameras and a reinforced door. Inside the stash house, law enforcement agents found approximately three kilograms of fentanyl, heroin, black tar heroin, narcotics cutting agent, cash, and two loaded firearms. Agents also discovered narcotics trafficking supplies and equipment used to weigh, package, and sell fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine on the street, such as a large freestanding kilogram press, numerous grinders and blenders, and worktables.
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SHANNON was convicted after trial of narcotics conspiracy and using and carrying firearms during and in relation to, or possessing firearms in furtherance of, the narcotics conspiracy. As part of the same case, RODERIQUE previously pled guilty in March 2022 before Judge Cronan to narcotics conspiracy, and co-defendant KING previously pled guilty in May 2022 before Judge Cronan to narcotics conspiracy. KING was sentenced by Judge Cronan to 60 months in prison in October 2022.
In addition to the prison terms, Judge Cronan sentenced SHANNON, 46, of Jersey City, New Jersey, to five years of supervised release; RODERIQUE, 39, of Raleigh, North Carolina, to five years of supervised release; and KING, 44, of Newark, New Jersey, to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael R. Herman, Brandon D. Harper, and Jared Lenow, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Samuel Dobro, are in charge of the prosecution.