Atlantic Beach Drug Dealer Sentenced To More Than Three Years In Prison

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Sunshine Marie McEwen (43, Atlantic Beach) to three years and five months in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, on August 20, 1998, McEwen was convicted of sexual battery on a 12-year-old child in Jacksonville. After her release from state prison in September 2013, she resided in Atlantic Beach. On May 15, 2015, McEwen sold drugs to an individual in Atlantic Beach and later fled to California without updating her sex offender registration. She also failed to register in California as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. On November 28, 2015, McEwen was arrested in Palm Springs and extradited to Florida to face her drug charges. On July 6, 2016, she was convicted for selling cocaine within 1,000 feet of a church and sentenced to 78 months in state prison.    

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Adam Walsh Act also provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the U.S. Marshals Service, to assist state and local authorities in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders. 

This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Atlantic Beach Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Palm Springs Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.