Illegal immigrant sentenced to 10 years on cocaine charges

By Shelby Sebens
Staff Writer


Published: Friday, October 24, 2008 at 7:17 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 24, 2008 at 9:59 p.m.

A U.S. District Judge on Friday sentenced an illegal immigrant who was living in Wilmington to 10 years in prison on drug charges.

Alejandro Garcia-Hernandez, 36, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A year earlier, the Pender County Sheriff’s Office discovered a large amount of cocaine was being brought into the county and a meeting for a drug transaction with Garcia-Hernandez at a store in Rocky Point had been set up.

When the meeting took place a search of the vehicle Garcia-Hernandez was a passenger in contained three kilograms of cocaine and a handgun. Officers later searched his home and found more cocaine which he got from a source in Raleigh.

“Armed drug traffickers pose a very serious risk to our communities. Here, an armed trafficker with more than six pounds of cocaine was apprehended and prosecuted due to the good work of the ATF, the Pender County Sheriffs and the Wilmington Police,â€