BOSTON – A Roslindale man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for conspiring to distribute fentanyl following a series of controlled drug purchases in Brookline and Boston.
Shaquylle Burden, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release. In July 2026, Burden pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. In December 2025, Burden and his co-conspirator Kerry Charlotin were arrested and charged. In June 2025, an investigation began into drug trafficking activities conducted by Charlotin and Burden. The investigation revealed that the defendants were actively selling fentanyl in the greater Boston area. On two separate dates in October and December 2025, Charlotin and Burden sold or arranged the sale of fentanyl to undercover law enforcement during controlled purchases. One firearm was found in Burden’s Roslindale residence at the time of his arrest.
In July 2026, Charlotin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 2, 2026.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston; and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s Columbia Field Office in South Carolina. Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Dawley of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.