ATLANTA - Nicholas Hernandez-Gonzalez has been sentenced for possessing with intent to distribute multiple kilograms of fentanyl and other opioids on May 16, 2019 when agents with Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI") and Georgia State Patrol (“GSP") seized one kilogram of fentanyl during a traffic stop and more than ten kilograms of heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanil from his apartment in Duluth, Georgia.
“Hernandez-Gonzalez endangered countless people with the quantity of extremely dangerous drugs he was mixing and storing in his apartment," said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay" Pak. “This case highlights the risks for drug users and their families - you do not know what is in the drugs sold on the street. Fortunately, our law enforcement partners work tirelessly to remove these dangerous products from our streets."
“The reckless manner in which Hernandez-Gonzalez mixed and sold his illegal drugs placed the entire community at risk. Powerful opioids like fentanyl have the potential to kill just by contact. I’m relieved that this defendant’s days of poisoning our community are over," said acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees HSI operations in Georgia and Alabama. “Combatting the importation of fentanyl into the country and its distribution remains a top priority for HSI and its partners across Georgia."
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: In April 2019, HSI agents identified Hernandez-Gonzalez as a drug dealer selling what he claimed was simply heroin, but which actually contained a mixture of significantly more potent synthetic opioids - fentanyl and carfentanil. Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin, and carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl.
On May 16, 2019, a GSP trooper stopped Hernandez-Gonzalez shortly after he left his apartment, and seized a cellophane-wrapped bundle that contained one kilogram of fentanyl from the backseat of his car. Hernandez-Gonzalez claimed the bundle contained heroin that he was delivering to a customer. Later that day, HSI agents searched Hernandez-Gonzalez's apartment and found nearly 10.5 kilograms of heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanil, a gun, and evidence that Hernandez-Gonzalez had been mixing various substances in the sparsely-furnished apartment. Specifically, one large plastic box in the master bedroom contained three kilograms of heroin and another box contained nearly four kilograms of a mixture of fentanyl and carfentanil. Agents also found ten bundles of powder containing methamphetamine and another kilogram of mixtures of fentanyl and carfentanil hidden inside a hole that had been cut into the master bedroom closet.
According to immigration records, Hernandez-Gonzalez had previously been deported to Mexico on two occasions in 2013.
Nicholas Hernandez-Gonzalez, 36, of Duluth, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Orinda D. Evans to 17 years, six months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Hernandez-Gonzalez was convicted on these charges on Aug. 29, 2019, after he pleaded guilty. Hernandez-Gonzalez will be deported to Mexico following his sentence of imprisonment.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Hartigan prosecuted the case.
This case is presented as a part of Operation SCOPE (Strategically Combatting Opioids through Prosecution and Enforcement), which is an initiative launched by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to partner with federal and local law enforcement to fight the devastating effects that illegally-prescribed painkillers, heroin, and synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl have on our neighborhoods.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov.
For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
