Norwich woman sentenced in regional drug trafficking case

A 42-year-old Norwich mother and grandmother with no prior criminal record was sentenced Wednesday to two years in federal prison for transporting a kilo of cocaine from New York to Connecticut in December 2018.

Jackie Hernandez had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, a crime that carries a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. She was able to qualify for a “safety valve” exception to the mandatory sentence due to several factors, including her lack of a criminal record, taking responsibility for the crime and her relatively minor role in the enterprise.

Hernandez was one of 26 New London-area defendants indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2019 on federal drug trafficking charges.

She remains free on a $100,000 bond and will be required to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on Sept. 7.

Federal, state and local agencies collaborated in an investigation in which they alleged a central figure, Anthony “Jak Mac” Whyte, obtained heroin, fentanyl and cocaine from Connecticut and beyond and distributed them to others, who sold the drugs to customers and street-level drug dealers. Whyte remains incarcerated while awaiting trial, and a handful of others have yet to resolve their cases, according to federal court records.

Hernandez’s sentencing took place via Zoom video conferencing Wednesday, with U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant presiding from the bench in federal court in Hartford. Hernandez and several family members attended the hearing from the office of her attorney, Nancy E. Martin, who argued for a fully suspended sentence with home confinement, noting Hernandez’s job as a home health care aide is crucial during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hernandez said she was desperate for money when she got involved in the trafficking ring, according to court documents.

“I’m so very sorry,” Hernandez said to the judge. She said she had “messed up” her family and knows what she did was “wrong for the community and society.”

Judge Bryant noted that at the time of the offense, unemployment was low and Hernandez had skills that would have enabled her to find work.

“Her offense is a very serious one,” the judge said. “It involved a huge quantity of drugs and also involved lethal drugs.”

Hernandez will be on supervised release for four years following her prison sentence.