Woman caught trafficking fentanyl through Eagle County receives 5 years probation
Emely Hernandez pleads guilty to possession with intent to deliver less than 4 grams of fentanyl, a class-3 felony
Phoenix resident Emely Hernandez was two days away from celebrating her 20th birthday in January when she was caught smuggling several pounds of fentanyl through Eagle County.
Hernandez was sentenced to five years probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to possession with intent to deliver less than 4 grams of fentanyl, a class-3 felony. A class-1 felony conspiracy to distribute fentanyl charge was dropped as part of Hernandez’s plea bargain.
Hernandez was also sentenced to 90 days in jail but was released following sentencing due to the fact that she already served time well beyond that. Hernandez was incarcerated for a total of 238 days in the Eagle County detention center.
Eagle County Sheriff Deputy Evan Jaramillo noted that Hernandez was helpful during her Jan. 4 traffic stop.
“Please note that Hernandez cooperation was beyond what I have experienced on similar cases and provided myself and the DEA with vital information to continue the investigation beyond Eagle County,” Jaramillo said in his arrest affidavit.
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Jaramillo said he was stationed alongside Interstate 70 at mile marker 132 near Dotsero when he noticed Hernandez’s white sedan following a tractor-trailer “well below the required distance to stop in a safe manner.”
There were icy spots and snow flurries in the area at the time, Jaramillo said, estimating Hernandez to be approximately 66 feet behind the tractor-trailer.
“According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a vehicle traveling at 60 mph would require a total of approximately 292 feet to stop safely in dry conditions,” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo began following Hernandez’s sedan and witnessed the vehicle weaving outside of its lane and hitting the rumble strip. At that point, he initiated a traffic stop, expecting Hernandez to exit at mile marker 140 so he could make the stop on the exit ramp. Instead, Hernandez continued past the exit, finally stopping at mile marker 140.5.
“When the vehicle did stop I observed that it parked on the white fog line not using the entire shoulder to get off of the roadway,” Jaramillo said. “The time the vehicle took to stop was unusual compared to what I often encounter. My awareness was heightened in this instance. My training and experience with similar situations led me to believe that something was not right as the general motoring public usually stops in a timelier matter usually around 20 seconds.”
Hernandez had a passenger in the vehicle who identified as her husband, 22-year-old Jorge Contua-Herrera. Contua-Herrera appeared rigid and nervous, Jaramillo said, and the fact that he was wearing flip-flops also caught Jaramillo’s attention.
“I found that not dressing for the weather was suspicious, especially if visiting a state that experiences winter conditions,” Jaramillo said.
Hernandez told Jaramillo that they were on their way to celebrate her birthday in Denver, en route from Phoenix. In checking Motorola’s Vigilant License Plate Reader Database, however, Jaramillo learned that the vehicle had departed out of California. Jaramillo also checked the records of the El Paso Intelligence Center and learned that in the month of December, Hernandez had entered and exited the United States on three separate occasions at the Calexico border checkpoint in California.
Jaramillo asked to search the vehicle and received verbal permission from Hernandez, he said, and shortly thereafter Hernandez admitted that she had a shoe box full of what she said were methamphetamine pills.
“Hernandez after being Mirandized advised that the pills were being transported and that she would receive $5,000,” Jaramillo said. “Hernandez advised that upon arriving in Denver, she would contact the coordinator of the shipment and would be given an address to go to drop off the drugs.”
In finding the pills, Jaramillo said he immediately recognized that they weren’t methamphetamine, as Hernandez had stated.
“Based on my training and experience the pills are known to possess the highly addictive opioid fentanyl,” he said. “The pills were not tested due to the presence of fentanyl.”
The total weight of the fentanyl pills was 2.7 pounds.
Hernandez said she was responsible for the drugs, not Contua-Herrera, but Contua-Herrera later said it was both his and his wife’s idea to transport the pills to Denver to make some quick money, according to Jaramillo’s report.
Contua-Herrera is scheduled to appear in Eagle County court for a preliminary demand hearing on Sept. 24. He’s facing several felony charges including distribution of a schedule 1 controlled substance, possession of a schedule 1 controlled substance and special offender importation of fentanyl.
