Drug Trafficker Receives 19-Year Prison Sentence in Connection with Two Cocaine Conspiracies

ANCHORAGE—U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a cocaine trafficker who had been indicted for involvement in two separate cases for sending cocaine to Alaska in recent years was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Anchorage.

Derneval Rodnell Dimmer, 36, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess to 228 months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Dimmer, who used a host of aliases including “Jabba,” “Pedro Dimmer,” “Ronnell Dimmer,” and “Pedro Wood,” has at times lived in Anchorage, but more recently resided in Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Sayers-Fay, who prosecuted the cases, Dimmer’s drug trafficking crimes are among the most serious encountered in Alaska. In his plea agreement, Dimmer admitted that he has been engaged in shipping cocaine to Alaska since at least 2009. As part of that conspiracy, in September 2009, Dimmer dispatched three individuals to Anchorage with 11 kilograms of cocaine concealed in their checked luggage. All three were prosecuted, but Dimmer’s responsibility as the drug source did not become clear until his fingerprints were later discovered on one of the cocaine-laden boxes. For his actions culminating in the 2009 interception of the 11 kilograms of cocaine, Dimmer pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine.

While federal agents were endeavoring to find and arrest him on the 2009 case, Dimmer shipped additional kilograms of cocaine to Alaska. In early May 2012, Dimmer shipped two separate packages containing a total of approximately 8.5 kilograms of cocaine from Burbank, California to Alaska. Law enforcement intercepted one of those packages, removed the cocaine, and subsequently delivered the altered contents to the target who turned out to be Dimmer’s cousin, Quincy Hernandez, who resided in Alaska. After performing the “controlled delivery” of the sham package to an Anchorage residence, law enforcement found the second box of cocaine that Dimmer had sent to Hernandez from Burbank. Dimmer concealed the kilograms of cocaine sent from Burbank in unique, retro-looking Crosley Stereo “5 in 1” sound systems that contained kilograms of cocaine. For these subsequent actions, Dimmer pled guilty to one count in a distinct case of conspiring to distribute cocaine. Hernandez pled guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine and his sentencing is pending.

In sentencing Dimmer to 19 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release, Judge Burgess noted Dimmer’s prior criminal history, which included a shooting and a domestic violence conviction, as well as Dimmer’s admission that he obstructed justice by attempting to influence the testimony of witnesses. Judge Burgess emphasized that the sentence imposed, including the 10-year period of supervised release that will follow the 19-year prison term, was designed to provide long-term protection of the public.

Ms. Loeffler commends the Drug Enforcement Administration for the investigation of this case, with which the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force also assisted.