BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A 28-year-old resident of Pasedena has
been ordered to prison for his participation in a cocaine distribution scheme
involving multiple seizures of cocaine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe
Martinez. Victor Hugo Hernandez pleaded guilty May 24, 2017.
Today, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen ordered Hernandez
to serve a total of 120 months in federal prison. The sentence will be
immediately followed by five years of supervised release.
Beginning in April 2015, Hernandez participated in a series
of meetings to negotiate the transportation of approximately 30 kilograms of
cocaine to Kansas City, Missouri. Law enforcement observed and recorded these
meetings. On May 1, 2015, Hernandez went to a fast food restaurant in
Brownsville and finalized the delivery of the cocaine. Co-conspirator Mario
Marroquin arrived and delivered the narcotics in the parking lot. The drugs
were then transported to Kansas City where they ultimately tested positive for
cocaine and weighed approximately 29 kilograms.
In October 2015, Hernandez engaged in another transaction
involving the transportation of cocaine to North Carolina. He assisted the
cocaine distribution scheme as Jaime Pena and Jose Adan Lopez delivered two
separate loads of cocaine to an undercover officer. Pena delivered
approximately 25 kilograms of cocaine at an Olmito convenience store, while
Lopez provided 20 kilograms of cocaine to the office at a Home Improvement
store in Brownsville.
The court found the total amount of cocaine for which
Hernandez was responsible in these three transactions was 74 kilograms.
Each of the co-conspirators had also pleaded guilty. Lopez,
43, Marroquin, 25, and Pena, 53, all of Brownsville, received 102, 70 and 54
months in prison, respectively.
Hernandez has been and will remain in custody pending
transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near
future.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and police departments
in Brownsville and Pasadena conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Jody Young and Karen Betancourt prosecuted the case.
