Fernando Hernandez Gets 15+ Years for Heroin, Fentanyl Ring

BOSTON — A ruthless drug kingpin who flooded Taunton with lethal doses of heroin and fentanyl has been slammed with a 188-month federal prison sentence. Fernando Hernandez, 43, of Providence, R.I., admitted to orchestrating a sprawling narcotics network that turned streets into killing zones, distributing over a kilogram of heroin in just two months during the summer of 2016.

Hernandez was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 15 years and 8 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release. On November 6, 2017, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl. The bust came after a sweeping federal probe that led to the arrest of Hernandez and 22 co-defendants in February 2017.

Federal investigators uncovered two interlocking drug operations running through Taunton and Boston—one allegedly run by Jose Antonio Lugo-Guerrero, the other by Hernandez. Authorities say Hernandez’s crew didn’t just sell drugs—they supplied lower-level dealers who then re-distributed the poison. Crucially, Hernandez allegedly sourced his deadly inventory through a supply chain that included Lugo-Guerrero, linking the two operations in a web of addiction and violence.

The court found Hernandez was not just a participant but the ringleader of a criminal enterprise involving more than five members. His operation pulsed through the region during mid-2016 to February 2017, a peak period in the opioid crisis. The quantity of narcotics moved—over a kilogram of heroin alone—underscores the scale of devastation his ring inflicted on communities.

Hernandez’s rap sheet is a catalog of violence and drugs: two prior drug possession convictions, four drug distribution charges, eight assaults, three threats, two violations of the Abuse Prevention Act, and one kidnapping. Despite this history, he remained a central figure in the underground drug economy—until federal agents cut him down.

Lugo-Guerrero, Hernandez’s alleged supplier, has pleaded not guilty and is set to stand trial on September 10, 2018. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Heinrich of the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit. The announcement was made by a coalition of law enforcement leaders, including U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling, DEA Special Agent Michael Ferguson, and top police officials from Boston, Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, Bridgewater, and the Massachusetts State Police.