Fall River Postal Manager Sentenced for Stealing Illegal Drugs

FALL RIVER — A former Fall River Post Office manager will serve a year and a half in prison after he stole drugs out of at least 15 packages that came through the mail.

Whitman resident Shawn Herron was sentenced on Monday to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The 47-year-old was also ordered to pay $4,000 in forfeiture, after authorities said he made that amount selling cocaine that he found in the mail.

In October, Herron pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and mail theft by a postal employee.

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Starting in September 2005, Herron worked first at the Canton Post Office and then later at the post office in Fall River as Manager of Customer Services.

Over the next year and a half, he tracked packages he suspected of containing drugs and those flagged as suspicious by law enforcement, then opened them and stole the contents.

He profiled priority parcels from Puerto Rico and states on the West Coast, as well as those flagged by authorities as possibly containing illegal drugs, tracking them through the postal service database.

After their arrival in Fall River, he found the packages and brought them to his office, where he opened them, stole any drugs he found, and sold them for personal gain, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In total, Herron stole at least 15 packages from the mail.

One of them contained 271 grams of suspected cocaine, which he then sold to an apparent drug dealer for $4,000.

The U.S. Attorney's Office stated that Herron intended to use the proceeds for personal expenses, including home renovations.