Council Bluffs Man Sentenced to More Than 19 Years on Methamphetamine Charges

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Fernando Hernandez, 45, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced on July 10, 2026, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, after having been found guilty by a jury trial of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine. Chief United States District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Hernandez to 235 months' imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Hernandez's release from prison, he will serve a ten-year term of supervised release. Additionally, Hernandez forfeited any claim to more than $30,000 and a vehicle seized during the investigation.

Hernandez was charged because of his involvement with a Mexican source of supply of methamphetamine who supplies the Omaha and Council Bluffs areas. Hernandez was a local courier who was distributing the methamphetamine in Nebraska and Iowa. On October 2, 2025, law enforcement utilized a cooperating witness who ordered one pound of methamphetamine from the Mexican source who sent the cooperator to an Omaha location where Hernandez delivered one pound of methamphetamine. After the delivery, Hernandez was seen meeting with other parties who were later stopped and found in possession of one pound of methamphetamine and $4,000.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Omaha comprises agents and officers from HSI, FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, USPIS, the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division, and assistance of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nebraska.