Skip to main content
Press Release

Drug Trafficker From Belize Was "Popeye" On The Streets Of Overland Park

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Kansas
 

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A man from Belize who used the alias “Popeye” to peddle methamphetamine on the streets of Overland Park was sentenced Monday to nine years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

John Michael Hernandez, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing methamphetamine and one count of unlawfully re-entering the United States after being convicted of an aggravated felony and deported. In his plea, he admitted he was using the alias “Popeye” in December 2013 when he began selling methamphetamine to undercover investigators working with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. In a series of transactions, he sold them more than a pound of methamphetamine.

After he was arrested, Homeland Security Investigations used the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) and the integrated Automated Fingerpring System (AFIS) to determine Hernandez had previously been convicted of robbery in Los Angeles and deported from the United States to Belize in 2009.

Grissom commended the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken for their work on the case.
Updated December 16, 2014

Component