United States Drug Enforcement Administration

FORT MYERS, Fla. – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber sentenced Shauntavus Berklin (34, Fort Myers) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing firearms as a convicted felon and distributing fentanyl. The court also ordered Berklin to forfeit the firearms he illegally had possessed. Berklin had pleaded guilty to the charges, which were contained in two indictments, on July 14, 2022.

According to court documents, on October 16, 2020, deputies from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a hotel in Fort Myers where a car linked to a home invasion robbery was parked. The deputies linked the car to a hotel room occupied by Berklin and another suspect in the robbery and obtained a search warrant. During a search of the room, deputies discovered two loaded firearms hidden in a mattress box spring. Subsequent forensic analysis of the firearms linked one of the firearms to Berklin, who had recently been released from a 10-year prison sentence. As a convicted felon, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Approximately three and a half months later, on January 30, 2021, detectives from the Fort Myers Police Department attempted to conduct a traffic stop of a rental vehicle they suspected was being driven by Berklin. Berklin fled from officers at a high rate of speed before crashing the vehicle in a residential neighborhood near downtown Fort Myers and escaping on foot. Inside the vehicle, officers located a loaded firearm and multiple baggies of fentanyl packaged for sale. DNA testing of the firearm later linked the firearm to Berklin, as did other personal items found in the car, including a receipt from his bail bondsman addressed to “Tweet” Berklin, his well-known nickname.

Berklin’s criminal activities continued in April 2021, during which time he twice sold fentanyl to an individual working with the Drug Enforcement Administration for $1,800. On each occasion, Berklin met with the individual in a parking lot of a local Fort Myers businesses and provided the informant with drugs while under constant surveillance by law enforcement.

These cases were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration Ft. Myers Resident Office, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Fort Myers Police Department. They were prosecuted by United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. 

If you are aware of controlled substance violations in your community, please submit your anonymous tip through the DEA online Tip Line at Submit a Tip | DEA.gov.  Concerns about prescription drug abuse or diversion can be reported to the DEA through this link: RX Abuse Online Reporting (usdoj.gov).

The DEA encourages parents, teachers, care givers, guardians, and children to educate themselves about the dangers of drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com , www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com , www.CampusDrugPrevention.gov , and www.dea.gov.

Follow DEA Miami via Twitter at @DEAMIAMIDIV