West Haven, CT – Shawn Stephens, 35, of West Haven, was sentenced today to 97 months (over eight years) in federal prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a large-scale operation manufacturing and distributing counterfeit pills containing potent synthetic opioids and other dangerous substances. U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson handed down the sentence in Hartford.
The investigation, led by the DEA New Haven’s Tactical Diversion Squad and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, uncovered a sophisticated scheme run by co-conspirator Kelldon Hinton. Hinton used a rented garage in East Haven, referred to as his "lab," to produce counterfeit oxycodone, Xanax, and Adderall tablets. These pills contained substances like methamphetamine, dimethylpentylone, xylazine, and protonitazene, a Schedule I synthetic opioid three times more potent than fentanyl. Hinton sourced ingredients and pill press parts from China, marketed the pills on the dark web, and shipped over 1,300 packages nationwide between February 2023 and February 2024.
Stephens assisted Hinton by helping maintain the East Haven "lab" and a storage facility in West Haven, and by mailing customer orders. Law enforcement arrested Stephens, Hinton, and others on September 5, 2024. Subsequent searches of the East Haven garage and a West Haven storage unit uncovered approximately one million narcotic pills weighing nearly 200 kilograms, 300 grams of cocaine, and two large pill presses, one capable of producing 100,000 pills per hour.
Stephens pleaded guilty on October 21, 2025, to conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. He is currently released on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to report to prison on July 30. Hinton has also pleaded guilty and is awaiting his sentencing.