Former professional skateboarder Evan Jaime Hernandez was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for selling meth and laundering Bitcoin, the Department of Justice announced in a statement.
Hernandez was busted in March 2018 after he sold nearly two pounds of meth to a federal agent whom he thought was a money launderer. The two were also involved in four separate Bitcoin-to-cash transactions, totaling about $171,000, over the course of a year. Hernandez later confessed to a year-long solo distribution operation, as well as working with dealers to sell narcotics over one of the largest darknet marketplaces in the world.
In March 2019, authorities searched the location of someone connected to Hernandez, and found nearly 15 pounds of methamphetamine that he already moved and planned on using for orders placed on the darknet. “(Hernandez) was involved in a highly sophisticated drug-trafficking operation, where he personally took on various roles to ensure its success: obtaining multiple types of narcotics, selling them directly to customers, and laundering money on the back end in a sophisticated manner,” prosecutors said in court docs.
Hernandez plead guilty last year to one count of distribution of methamphetamine and one count of laundering of monetary instruments. He will also be required to forfeit a 2010 Mercedes-Benz, $35,000 in cash, and a number of pieces of jewelry, including watches and necklaces.
