Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
Richard Nguyen, also known as "Cheese" and "Cheeseburger," was sentenced on April 1 in federal court in Boston to 128 months in prison for his involvement in a drug distribution network producing counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine. The sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release. Nguyen, age 30 and from Lowell, was convicted by a federal jury in November 2025 on multiple counts related to the distribution and possession with intent to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by law enforcement agencies to address the manufacturing and sale of illegal drugs that impact communities such as Lowell. According to authorities, Nguyen was part of a group profiting from the sale of thousands of homemade methamphetamine pills branded as Adderall.
Between March 2022 and January 2025, investigators reported that Nguyen and other defendants sold counterfeit Adderall pills on at least 47 occasions to undercover officers and cooperating witnesses. On three occasions between January and April 2024, Nguyen sold significant quantities—upwards of several thousand pills—to a cooperating witness at his home. He arranged these deals through an Instagram account under the name “Cheese,” negotiating prices based on his own costs.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said valuable assistance came from multiple police departments across Massachusetts during the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Fred M. Wyshak III and Brendan D. O’Shea prosecuted the case.
The prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which brings together law enforcement agencies with community organizations to reduce violent crime and gun violence nationwide. The Department launched an updated violent crime reduction strategy for PSN in May 2021 focused on building trust within communities, supporting prevention programs, prioritizing enforcement actions strategically, and measuring results.
The investigation was conducted under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program that aims to dismantle major criminal organizations through coordinated multi-agency efforts.
