Georgia Man To Serve 13 Years For Role In Local Drug Deal
BOSTON, MA. - A Georgia man was sentenced today in federal court for conspiring to distribute eight pounds of pure methamphetamine.
Steven W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Boston Field Division, United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Chief Gary Gemme of the Worcester Police Department announced that Feliciano Hernandez Moreno, 30, of Buford, Ga., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 13 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. O March 17, 2011, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the Government’s evidence would have proven that a drug courier, Kenneth Sparks, was instructed by his boss, Hernandez Moreno, to drive an SUV from California to Georgia. Believing that the SUV was loaded with drug proceeds, Sparks stole the money and drove the SUV to Massachusetts. When Sparks removed the gas tank, he discovered not cash, but eight one-pound packages of nearly pure methamphetamine.
Hernandez Moreno and a co-defendant, Jaime Alvarez Ramirez, traveled to Massachusetts to find Sparks and the pilfered drugs. By the time they arrived, Sparks had gone to law enforcement officers and confessed to stealing the drugs. A cooperating witness spoke with Hernandez Moreno and Ramirez, and enabled agents to arrest them at the Blackstone Mall. With the help of the Worcester Police Department, who learned of small methamphetamine sales occurring in Worcester, federal agents were able to recover over five of the eight pounds of methamphetamine. The DEA lab determined that the methamphetamine was 99.9% pure.
