A Baytown man, Eduardo Hernandez, has been sentenced to over 12 years in federal prison for firearms trafficking. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office release, Hernandez, 54, pleaded guilty to purchasing and supplying guns to people not legally allowed to own them in the U.S.
Hernandez was sentenced to 151 months by Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane on October 31, 2024. He will also serve three years of supervised release. During sentencing, Hernandez apologized for his crimes, acknowledging his offense against the United States. However, Judge Crane stated that Mexico is the real victim of this offense due to the impact of cartel violence.
Authorities uncovered Hernandez's firearms trafficking operation after executing a search warrant on November 1, 2023. They seized multiple firearms from an undocumented individual, who admitted the guns were meant for Mexico. Two of these firearms were rifles purchased by Hernandez.
Hernandez admitted to buying around 50 firearms from licensed and private sellers and supplying them to individuals unlawfully in the U.S. Hernandez also admitted to moving a large quantity of ammunition, amounting to tens of thousands of rounds, to a location near the southern U.S. border for transfer into Mexico. Hernandez will voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
This case was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a collaborative effort aimed at dismantling criminal networks. Agencies involved included Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Texas Department of Public Safety - Criminal Investigations Division, and the Baytown Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roberto Lopez Jr., Lance Watt, and Brittany Jensen led the prosecution.
