Shawn Anthony Burns, 31, of Albuquerque, N.M., is headed for federal prison after pleading guilty today to distributing crack cocaine in Bernalillo County—a key conviction in a massive ATF-led sweep targeting violent drug traffickers.
Burns admitted in U.S. District Court to selling 28 grams or more of crack cocaine on April 29, 2016. The charge carries a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years behind bars. He also agreed to forfeit $4,000 in cash tied to the drug trade.
His arrest stemmed from a wide-ranging federal operation launched in April 2016, when ATF agents from across the country flooded Albuquerque to combat the city’s spiraling violent crime rate. The probe led to 59 indictments and one criminal complaint, slamming 104 individuals with federal firearms and narcotics charges.
Law enforcement deployed undercover stings, intelligence gathering, and targeted surveillance of repeat felons armed with illegal guns. The effort supported a federal anti-violence initiative focused on locking up ‘the worst of the worst’—prioritizing offenders with long rap sheets for federal prosecution to maximize prison time.
Burns was indicted in July 2016 on three counts of distributing crack cocaine on April 19, 20, and 29 of that year. Today’s plea narrows the conviction to the final transaction but secures a stiff mandatory sentence. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
So far, 17 of the 104 defendants charged in the crackdown have pleaded guilty. The rest maintain their innocence. The case was investigated by ATF and DEA agents in Albuquerque and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Brawley. Charges are not convictions—each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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