A 47-year-old man who was accused of having more than 5,000 meth pills stashed inside a shoebox has pleaded guilty.

Saugus man George Krabey pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving thousands of counterfeit pills containing meth and fentanyl.

Krabey had been indicted by a federal grand jury in July.

According to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office, Krabey repeatedly met with a cooperating source and sold the source thousands of counterfeit pills containing meth and fentanyl between last December and this April.

Then on April 22, Krabey was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by law enforcement in Danvers. Krabey was enroute to Salisbury to allegedly sell the cooperating source 4,000 counterfeit pills containing meth.

During a search of the vehicle, law enforcement found a shoebox that had 5,296 pills containing meth — with a weight of about two kilos.

Krabey on Monday pleaded guilty to: two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, involving 500 grams or more of meth; three counts of distribution of 50 grams or more of meth; one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of meth; one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of meth; and one count of distribution of meth and fentanyl.

U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for March 4, 2026.

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The charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances involving 500 grams or more of meth and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of meth can lead to a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $10 million.

The charges of distribution of 50 grams or more of meth and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of meth can lead to a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $5 million.

The charge of distribution of meth and fentanyl can lead to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $1 million.