A man from Belize who used the alias “Popeye” to peddle methamphetamine on the streets of Overland Park was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., to nine years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
John Michael Hernandez, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing methamphetamine and one count of unlawfully re-entering the United States after being convicted of an aggravated felony and deported. In his plea, he admitted he was using the alias “Popeye” in December 2013 when he began selling methamphetamine to undercover investigators working with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. In a series of transactions, he sold them more than a pound of methamphetamine.
After he was arrested, Homeland Security Investigations used the Automated Biometric Identification System and the integrated Automated Fingerprint System to determine Hernandez had previously been convicted of robbery in Los Angeles and deported from the United States to Belize in 2009.
Grissom commended the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken for their work on the case.