U.S. Citizen Residing in Mexico Sentenced to Prison for Violating Federal Drug Trafficking Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Leon Homero Hernandez, 42, a U.S. citizen residing in Mexico, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 84 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his conviction on methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking charges.

Hernandez was arrested on Oct. 28, 2015, on a four-count indictment charging him with distributing cocaine on Aug. 17, 2015 and Sept. 2, 2015, and distributing methamphetamine on Sept. 2, 2015 and Sept. 23, 2015.  According to the indictment, Hernandez committed the crimes in Dona Ana County, N.M.  The indictment included forfeiture provisions requiring Hernandez to forfeit $3,900 to the United States.

On March 10, 2016, Hernandez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with two counts of distributing cocaine and two counts of distributing methamphetamine.  In entering the guilty plea, Hernandez admitted distributing quantities of narcotics to an undercover law enforcement agent on the following dates:  24.1 grams of cocaine on Aug. 17, 2015; 23.8 grams of cocaine and 27.3 grams of pure methamphetamine on Sept. 2, 2015; and 56.6 grams of pure methamphetamine on Sept. 23, 2015.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri J. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces branch office.