Robert Hernandez Sentenced in U.S. Federal Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 10, 2011 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on November 10, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, ROBERT HERNANDEZ, a 43-year-old resident of Billings, appeared for sentencing. HERNANDEZ was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 70 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: five years
HERNANDEZ was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Seykora, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On July 29, 2009, members of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and Eastern Montana HIDTA assisted Montana Probation and Parole at a residence in Billings. The residence was rented by “John Doe.” In plain view in the house was a large amount of crystal methamphetamine.
“John Doe” was taken away from the scene for an interview. A search warrant was obtained for the residence. The search yielded 617 grams of pure crystal methamphetamine. “John Doe” admitted to trafficking methamphetamine between January of 2009 and July 29, 2009.
“John Doe” admitted to distributing the methamphetamine to several subjects in Billings, Montana during the course of the conspiracy including approximately two (2) pounds to HERNANDEZ for re-distribution.
In early 2010, agents spoke with another individual who confirmed that he had obtained over 500 grams of methamphetamine from “John Doe”, and that he distributed the drug. He also implicated HERNANDEZ in the distribution network.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that HERNANDEZ will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, HERNANDEZ does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force, and the Billings Big Sky Safe Streets Task Force.