Southern California Man Sentenced for Mailing Meth to Omaha

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Jose De Jesus Hernandez Castellanos, 21, of Beaumont, California, was sentenced June 26, 2024, in Omaha, Nebraska for distribution of 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. United States District Court Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Hernandez Castellanos to 100 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Hernandez Castellanos’s release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release.

In July 2022, a DEA agent went undercover to investigate a group of people who were mailing meth to Omaha from southern California. On July 15, 2022, Hernandez Castellanos phoned the undercover agent, who ordered a pound of meth. The meth, which weighed approximately 850 grams (1.87 pounds), arrived in Omaha on July 27, 2022.

As part of a plea agreement, the prosecution dismissed a conspiracy charge against Hernandez Castellanos in exchange for his guilty plea to distribution. Co-defendant Anthony Torres, 31, is charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Torres is in custody in Los Angeles County awaiting trial on California state charges.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Douglas County Sherriff’s Office assisted with forensic testing of the meth and fingerprint analysis.