Antonio DaShawn Daniels, also known as “Freckleface Shawn” and “Pecas,” was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for trafficking heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine, as well as possessing 40 firearms in his Atlanta stash house. The sentencing follows Daniels’s conviction at trial in June 2025.
“Supplied by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Daniels’s drug trafficking organization devastated hundred, if not thousands, of lives through its large-scale distribution of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Daniels was one of the largest heroin and fentanyl distributors to ever operate in Georgia, and his conviction and sentencing are the direct result of the tireless efforts of skilled prosecutors, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and our local law enforcement partners.”
“This investigation tore apart a drug trafficking network responsible for dealing drugs in communities across the region,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown. “This operation shows what can be accomplished when there is collaboration between federal and local law enforcement agencies.”
“This drug trafficking organization is part of a ruthless criminal network that profits from drugs, guns, and bloodshed,” said Jae W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division.
According to court records presented by U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, Daniels led a large-scale drug trafficking organization operating from at least August 2018 until his arrest on July 27, 2020. The investigation began in 2019 after agents discovered a ledger indicating that Daniels had received over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine within an 18-month period for which he paid more than $31 million. Wiretaps on Daniels’s phones helped authorities identify key members and reveal the organization’s extensive reach.
The investigation ended with record-setting seizures during a takedown on July 27, 2020. Authorities seized approximately 28 kilograms of heroin (17 mixed with fentanyl), six kilograms of cocaine, eight kilograms of marijuana, more than $2.1 million in cash inside an Atlanta apartment where Daniels was arrested, along with forty firearms and equipment used for processing drugs.
A search at another residence used by the organization uncovered over 142 kilograms of heroin—nearly all mixed with fentanyl—which marked the largest heroin seizure in Georgia history at that time.
Several members of Daniels’s group have already been sentenced:
– Darryl McCrary Jr., sentenced to 25 years.
– William Daniels received a sentence of 15 years.
– Quinton Oliver was sentenced to ten years and one month.
– Michael Peeker received one year and six months.
– Lorene Reeves was sentenced to four years and nine months.
– Niteria Patterson received ten years.
U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. handed down Antonio DaShawn Daniels’s sentence: forty years in prison followed by ten years supervised release after a jury convicted him on multiple charges including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl and cocaine; possession with intent to distribute those substances; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; and possession of a firearm related to drug trafficking.
The case involved joint work from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with support from Doraville Police Department and DeKalb County Police Department. Prosecutors included Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric White, Sandy Strippoli, Laurel Milam as well as former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas Hartigan and Alison Prout.
The prosecution falls under Operation Take Back America—a national initiative using resources from the Department of Justice against cartels and transnational criminal organizations—and is also part of Homeland Security Task Force efforts created under Executive Order 14159.
The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia acts as the main federal law enforcement agency for north Georgia—serving millions across diverse regions—and coordinates high-profile cases involving threats such as terrorism or major drug operations while working closely with other agencies nationally and internationally.
For further information about this case or others managed by this office—which is led by Theodore S. Hertzberg—visit their official website or contact their Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.
