WHITE PLAINS – A 45-year-old Port Chester man was sentenced in White Plains federal court on Friday to 17 years in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin and possessing firearms as part of drug trafficking between 2017 and 2018.
Cristian Fernandez pled guilty on December 5, 2019 before District Court Judge Vincent Briccetti.
According to the charges, Fernandez led a transnational criminal organization that trafficked drugs and guns in Port Chester and other locations throughout the United States. Court filings and statements made at public court proceedings said he received kilograms of heroin from a supplier in Mexico and headed a network of co-conspirators who helped distribute the drugs for profit in different parts of the United States.
In addition to drug trafficking, Fernandez operated a firearms business, through which he sold and possessed at least six firearms, five of which were operable.
In one transaction in December 2017, Fernandez sold a 7.62 millimeter AK-type rifle with evidence of discharge in the barrel and a 20-gauge shotgun, both operable, along with nearly 450 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl for a total price of $25,600.
In addition to the prison sentence, Fernandez faces five years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $570,000, including $51,869 in cash that was seized from his residence on the day of his arrest.
