A Kent man, his brother and their father received prison sentences last week in U.S. District Court in Tacoma for leading a Pierce County-based meth and heroin distribution ring.
Juan Hernandez, 34, of Kent, and Jaime Hernandez, 29, of Tacoma, were each sentenced to 12 years in prison while their father Luis Hernandez, 60, of Tacoma, received a 10-year sentence, according to an U.S. Attorney’s Office media release.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton noted that heroin and meth destroys lives, saying this family group had “worked mightily to destroy other families.”
“Through the course of this case, law enforcement took more than 66 pounds of crystal meth and more than two and a half pounds of heroin off the streets,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “The defendants prepared these drugs for distribution in a lab that was fed by the misery and suffering of the addicted and their communities. DEA and their state and local partners should be commended for their work on this case.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) led the wire-tap investigation which uncovered a conversion lab in Spanaway, where liquid meth was processed into highly addictive crystal methamphetamine. The conversion of liquid meth to crystal meth is a potentially dangerous process involving highly flammable chemicals such as acetone.
Fifteen people were charged in connection with this drug distribution ring, and all have entered guilty pleas.
“The leaders of this trafficking group contributed to the methamphetamine and heroin addiction in the Pacific Northwest,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Douglas James. “It is clear that the members of this group had no regard for the safety of the community as they operated a methamphetamine conversion lab involving extremely dangerous and flammable chemicals. Methamphetamine and heroin continue to be the top drug threats in the region and DEA will continue to work with our federal, state and local counterparts to address these threats.”
This was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved. DEA Tacoma led the investigation in conjunction with Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team, Lakewood Police Department, West Sound Narcotics Team and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
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