DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Northern District of New York

For Immediate Release

Thursday, February 8, 2018
Grant C. Jaquith
, United States Attorney
Contact: AUSA Michael Barnett

Albany Felon Sentenced on Firearms Convictions

Traded Heroin for a Loaded .38-Caliber Handgun

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Shawn Faircloth, age 46, of Albany, was sentenced today to 68 months in prison following his guilty plea to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

 

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Ashan M. Benedict, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). 

 

As part of his guilty plea, Faircloth admitted that in early 2013, in downtown Albany, he traded heroin to a drug addict in exchange for a loaded Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver.  On August 9, 2013, while executing a search warrant at Faircloth’s apartment, police found the revolver hidden inside a bathroom.  The gun was loaded.  Also in the bathroom, police found a digital scale and supply of Ziploc bags that Faircloth admitted he used to package heroin and crack cocaine, which he sold in Albany. 

 

Senior United States District Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. also ordered Faircloth to serve 3 years of supervised release upon Faircloth’s release from prison. 

 

This case was investigated by ATF and the Albany Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph A. Giovannetti and Wayne A. Myers.

 

 

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New York Field Division