Former Wethersfield Resident Pleads Guilty to Meth, Fentanyl and Cocaine Distribution Charge

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, and Wethersfield Police Chief Rafael Medina, announced that SHANE J. SAWICKI, 28, formerly of Wethersfield, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, an investigation revealed that Sawicki was connected to a drug trafficking organization in Illinois that was coordinating the sale and shipment of Xanax and crystal methamphetamine from California, and that he was receiving mailed packages containing Farmapram, which is a Mexican brand of alprazolam (Xanax).  In April 2022, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of a package that was mailed from California to Sawicki’s Wethersfield address.  The package contained two bottles containing a total of 180 Farmapram pills.  Investigators also identified four similar parcels that had been mailed to Sawicki’s address prior to April 2022.

On April 29, 2022, investigators conducted a court authorized search of Sawicki’s apartment and seized thousands counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine, a small quantity of counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, a distribution quantity of cocaine, numerous other bags and containers of assorted pills of different colors and shapes, a container of MDMA, and three bottles of Farmapram pills.  A subsequent search of Sawicki’s cell phone revealed photographs of large quantities of pills, a large amount of U.S. currency, and numerous text message conversations regarding the sale of illicit substances.

Sawicki was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on July 7, 2022.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea on May 17.

Sawicki is released on a $100,000 bond and residing in Farmington pending sentencing.

This investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Hartford Task Force, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Wethersfield Police Department.  The DEA Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks and Willimantic Police Departments.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Reed Durham.