LOS ANGELES – A former San Bernardino County resident was sentenced today to 105 months in federal prison for providing approximately 1 kilogram of fentanyl and 1 kilogram of heroin in exchange for machine guns, grenade launchers and a case of what he believed were six dozen live grenades.
Pedro Roberto Hernandez-Gomez, 32, formerly of San Bernardino and who was a resident of Tijuana, Mexico at the time of his arrest, was sentenced by United States District Judge André Birotte Jr. Hernandez-Gomez pleaded guilty on March 12 to one count of distribution of fentanyl.
In January 2020, Hernandez-Gomez agreed to provide narcotics in exchange for firearms to a person he believed was a drug customer, but who was in fact a source working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Hernandez-Gomez provided 999.25 grams of heroin and 1,001.19 grams of fentanyl to the source and an undercover ATF agent.
In exchange for the narcotics, Hernandez-Gomez received three machine guns, two grenade launchers and one case of 72 inert grenades, which Hernandez-Gomez believed were actual grenades.
Hernandez-Gomez possessed these firearms despite having been previously convicted of a felony offense – possession with intent to distribute heroin – in federal court in Arizona in February 2014. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison for that offense.
“The distribution of illegal drugs poses a serious danger to the community, especially the distribution of fentanyl, a potent and powerful opioid,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “Further concerning is that [Hernandez-Gomez] was providing this large quantity of drugs in exchange for dangerous firearms, that is, machine guns and grenade launchers.”
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The ATF investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Fillmore of the General Crimes Section prosecuted this case.