Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
St. Petersburg Felon Sentenced to Five Years’ Imprisonment for Selling Fentanyl and Firearms
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced William Shumaker, Jr. (39, St. Petersburg) to five years in federal prison for four counts of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Shumaker had pleaded guilty on July 20, 2022.
According to court documents, Shumaker, a multiple-convicted felon, sold quantities of fentanyl to undercover law enforcement officers on several occasions and in increasingly large amounts between March and April 2021. Shumaker told undercover officers that he could sell them a firearm in addition to the fentanyl. In one such fentanyl sale, Shumaker sold a loaded Ruger .357 Magnum revolver and offered to sell a .22 caliber SCCY pistol along with the fentanyl and Magnum revolver.
This case was investigated by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David W.A. Chee.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.