Darknet Fentanyl Dealer Convicted At Trial

A darknet fentanyl dealer who used the moniker “Fent4U” was found guilty yesterday of multiple drug crimes and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

After four days of trial and five hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Sean Shaughnessy, 55, of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance analogue, distribution of controlled substances, and possession of child pornography.

“Drug traffickers who think operating on the darknet will shield them from prosecution should think again,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. “We will scour the darkest recesses of the internet to find those dealing fentanyl, a drug that shatters lives and wrecks futures. We are grateful to the many agents and officers – both in uniform and undercover – that worked together to arrest Mr. Shaughnessy, and to the jurors who thoughtfully weighed the evidence and voted to convict.”

“This drug dealer, who used the cloak of the dark web to peddle fentanyl and other illicit drugs, is no longer in business thanks to the investigative efforts and technological expertise of our agents and law enforcement partners,” said Lester R. Hayes Jr., Special Agent in Charge of HSI Dallas. “Criminals who seek personal gain by trafficking illicit drugs at the expense of victims in our communities cannot hide on the dark web. Our team of special agents and criminal analysts will never relent in our resolve to bring to justice those that seek financial gain by selling this poison in our neighborhoods as we all work tirelessly as a community to address drug addiction and fatal overdoses throughout the country.”

According to evidence presented at trial, Mr. Shaughnessy sold fentanyl, carfentanil (a frequently abused  elephant tranquilizer), pentedrone, and fentanyl and pentedrone analogues over the dark web, an unindexed portion of the internet accessible only via specialized software that allows users to conduct transactions with relative anonymity. His buyers purchased the drugs on dark web marketplaces using cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and Mr. Shaughnessy shipped the drugs to their addresses.

Multiple former customers testified at Mr. Shaughnessy’s trial, noting the drugs Shaughnessy sold them, including fentanyl and its analogues, arrived to their DFW are homes very quickly and were of high potency.

Just days after purchasing fentanyl analogues from Mr. Shaughnessy, one of his customers, a young man in his 20s, died of an overdose involving that substance.  

An undercover Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent testified about the undercover operation that identified Mr. Shaughnessy, explaining that Mr. Shaughnessy directed tens of thousands of dollars of his illicit drug proceeds to be sent to Mr. Shaughnessy in the Dallas area.

Another agent testified that during an interview with law enforcement, Mr. Shaughnessy claimed that the agents would have to “check his taxes” to determine what Mr. Shaughnessy did for a living.  Agents contacted the Internal Revenue Service, which indicated Mr. Shaughnessy had filed no taxes for the relevant time periods.

In a video of his July 2016 arrest played for the jury, Mr. Shaughnessy, with white powder visible around his nose, removed and dropped a baggie of drugs from his pocket while officers were placing handcuffs on him, and he then attempted to kick it out of officers’ view. When officers noticed the baggie, the defendant insisted, “that ain’t mine,” though it was plainly visible on the officers’ body-camera footage.

The defendant now faces up to 80 years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas and New York Field Offices conducted the investigation in partnership with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, the Irving Police Department, and the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joe Magliolo, Gary Tromblay, Nicole Dana, and Jordan Ganz are prosecuting the case. U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay presided over the trial.