Prison for VA Drug, Gun Dealer Found Hiding, Working On Long Island: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — A 20-year-old gun- and drug dealer from Virginia found hiding in Bay Shore has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced.

Shanti Felton's sentence also includes five years of post-release supervision.

Members of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Suffolk County Police Department, and United States Marshals Service learned in 2022 that Felton was living in Bay Shore to avoid being apprehended in connection with an armed robbery in Virginia in May 2021.

“This defendant was a drug and gun trafficker who posed a severe threat to the safety of our residents in Suffolk County due to his peddling of fentanyl-laced illicit drugs onto our streets and his cache of weapons,” Tierney said.

When they approached the residence Oct. 19, Felton attempted to flee through a basement window while armed with a fully automatic and loaded pistol that had no serial number and was modified to function as a machine gun, prosecutors said.

After a brief standoff with law enforcement, Felton dropped the pistol and surrendered.

Officers then executed a search warrant, and recovered two additional loaded firearms, 4,035 blue pressed fentanyl pills, 220 orange pressed methamphetamine pills, $5,510 in cash, and four cellphones, prosecutors said.

On Oct. 30, Felton pleaded guilty to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, a Class A-I felony, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony.

On Jan. 16, Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft Jr. sentenced Felton to 10 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.

He was represented by Matthew Hereth. Patch reached out to Hereth for comment.

The charges related to his alleged participation in the armed robbery in Virginia are still pending, prosecutors said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jacob Kubetz and Alyssa Costantino of the Narcotics Bureau, with investigative assistance from Special Investigator Paul Weeks of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Police Officer Jeremy Reichling and Detective Thomas Corso of the Suffolk County Police Department, and members of the United States Marshals Service.

“I want to thank the Suffolk County Police Department and the United States Marshals Service for apprehending this dangerous individual, as well as thank the prosecutors in my office for securing a just conviction and lengthy prison sentence," Tierney said.