Richard Nguyen, also known as “Cheese” and “Cheeseburger,” was sentenced on April 1 in federal court in Boston to 128 months in prison and five years of supervised release for his role in a drug distribution network that produced counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine. U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy imposed the sentence after Nguyen, age 30 of Lowell, was convicted by a federal jury in November 2025 on two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine, and one count involving at least 50 grams.
Nguyen’s sentencing follows an investigation into the Asian Boyz gang that began in 2021, aiming to disrupt the manufacturing and sale of large quantities of homemade methamphetamine pills affecting Lowell. Authorities said Nguyen participated in a network that profited from selling thousands of these counterfeit pills between March 2022 and January 2025.
According to prosecutors, Nguyen sold counterfeit Adderall pills to undercover officers and cooperating witnesses on dozens of occasions. Specifically, between January and April 2024, he sold approximately three batches—first about 1,000 pills followed by two deals involving around 2,000 pills each—to a cooperating witness at his home using Instagram for negotiations. He set prices at $0.80 per pill.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the sentencing along with officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Division and the Lowell Police Department. The case received assistance from several Massachusetts police departments as well as state police forces.
The prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which brings together law enforcement agencies with communities to reduce violent crime through trust-building efforts, community support programs, focused enforcement priorities, and ongoing measurement strategies. More information about PSN can be found at https://www.justice.gov/PSN.
This case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), which targets high-level criminal organizations through multi-agency cooperation led by prosecutors.