Maine woman pleads guilty to massive meth trafficking enterprise, gun charges

PORTLAND, Maine - A Peru woman pleaded guilty Thursday to distributing and possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, conspiring to distribute and possess methamphetamine, and using a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court records, from July 2022 to January 2023, Mandy Shorey, 43, made multiple sales of methamphetamine to an undercover officer in Portland after obtaining the drugs from her Massachusetts supplier. Following several successful controlled buys from Shorey, in November 2022 the undercover officer arranged to purchase two pounds of methamphetamine from her. That night, while waiting for her supplier to arrive, Shorey was armed with a handgun; she told the undercover officer that it was her practice to always carry a firearm for protection when conducting drug deals. On January 26, 2023, Shorey again supplied the undercover officer with a substantial quantity of methamphetamine -approximately one pound - at the same Portland location.

That night, Shorey's supplier, Angel Luis Lozano of Lowell, Mass., who has also pleaded guilty to federal drug charges for his role in the conspiracy, sold Shorey around 459 grams of methamphetamine which she in turn sold to the undercover officer. Shortly after the transaction, the Portland Police Department initiated a traffic stop of Shorey's vehicle, recovering the handgun.

Shorey faces a minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, and a fine of up to $10 million followed by supervised release for at least five years and up to life for the drug charges. She faces a minimum sentence of five years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the firearms charge. She will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI investigated the case with assistance from the Portland Police Department.