Port Chester Narcotics And Firearms Trafficker Sentenced In White Plains Federal Court To 17 Years In Prison

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CRISTIAN FERNANDEZ was sentenced to 204 months in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking between 2017 and 2018.  Fernandez pled guilty on December 5, 2019, before U.S. District Court Judge Vincent L. Briccetti, who imposed today’s sentence.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Cristian Fernandez was a leader of a transnational criminal organization that trafficked illegal guns and drugs.  Today he was handed the lengthy prison sentence his crimes deserve.”

According court filings and statements made at public court proceedings:

Between 2017 and 2018, FERNANDEZ led a transnational criminal organization that trafficked drugs and guns in Port Chester, New York, and other locations throughout the United States.  FERNANDEZ received kilograms of heroin from a supplier in Mexico and headed a network of co-conspirators who helped distribute the drugs for profit in different parts of the United States. 

In addition to trafficking drugs, FERNANDEZ also operated a firearms business, through which he sold and possessed at least six firearms, five of which were operable.  In one transaction, on December 12, 2017, FERNANDEZ sold a 7.62 millimeter AK-type rifle with evidence of discharge in the barrel and a 20-gauge shotgun, both operable, along with nearly 450 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl for the total price of $25,600.

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In addition to the prison term, FERNANDEZ, 45, of Port Chester, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $570,000, including $51,869 in cash that was seized from his residence on the day of his arrest.

 Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the Port Chester Police Department.  Mr. Berman also thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Westchester County Police Department, and the Peekskill Police Department for their assistance in this investigation. 

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Olga Zverovich and Samuel Adelsberg are in charge of the prosecution.