New Brunswick Man Sentenced On

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Daniel Hebert, 42, formerly of Barrie, Ontario, Canada, who was convicted of importing more than 100 kilograms of marijuana from Canada into the United States and failure to appear for court proceedings, was sentenced to 37 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine Baumgarten, who handled the case, stated that on November 5, 2005, Hebert entered the United States at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry driving a tractor trailer and was pulled over for a secondary inspection. During a search of the trailer, officers located multiple plastic baggies containing a green, leafy substance in seven cardboard boxes hidden among boxes containing frozen waffles.

Hebert told Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the marijuana was to be delivered to a man named "Brian" at Jim's Truck Plaza in Cheektowaga, NY. The defendant agreed to cooperate with the investigation, and the marijuana was removed and the boxes were placed back inside the trailer. Officers surveilled Hebert as he drove to Jim's Truck Plaza, and met with a white male, who thereafter entered a white conversion van. Officers then surveilled the white conversion van and Hebert as he drove the tractor trailer to Pilot Air Freight on Broadway in Buffalo. The white conversion van backed in next to Heberts tractor trailer and two co-defendants, Brian Brady and Thomas Goodyer, exited the van and walked to the rear of the tractor trailer. The doors to Hebert’s trailer were opened, and Brady and Goodyer were arrested after the boxes that had contained marijuana were being handed to Brady and Goodyer.

Herbert was charged by criminal complaint on November 7, 2005. The defendant appeared before a federal Magistrate Judge who ordered Hebert released with various conditions, including that Hebert post $10,000 bail and attend all court proceedings.  The defendant failed to appear at a court appearance on May 26, 2006.  On June 28, 2006, after Hebert failed to appear for another required proceeding, an arrest warrant was issued for the defendant.

Brian Brady and Thomas Goodyer have been convicted. Brady has been sentenced while Goodyer is awaiting sentencing.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge J. Michael Kennedy and Customs and Border Protection, under the direction of Rose Hilmey, Acting Director of Field Operations.