Angelina County Drug Trafficker Sentenced for Federal Firearms Violation

BEAUMONT – A Lufkin man has been sentenced to federal prison for a firearms violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.

Fabian Fernando Hernandez, 20, pleaded guilty on July 19, 2022, to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.

According to information presented in court, Hernandez was identified by law enforcement as a possible distributor of narcotics in the East Texas area. On Jan. 15, 2022, the Rusk Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle Hernandez was driving. During the traffic stop Hernandez fled on foot. Officers found nearly sixty grams of cocaine and almost 500 grams of marijuana in the vehicle abandoned by Hernandez, as well as pistol.  Hernandez was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 6, 2022.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Lufkin Police Department, and the Rusk Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald S. Carter.

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Davilyn Walston

Public Affairs Officer/Law Enforcement Coordinator

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Eastern District of Texas