Major Mexican Drug Dealer Gets 20 Years

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Frediberto Pineda, a/k/a “Calero,” a/k/a “Samuel Hernandez-Pimental,” a/k/a “Samuel P. Hernandez,” a/k/a “Jorge Rodriguez-Berruquin,” a/k/a “Jorge Rodriguez-Barruquin,” age 32, of Gaston, South Carolina and Guerrerro, Mexico, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 50 grams of crack cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code; and illegal re-entry after deportation, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1326(a). United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. of Columbia sentenced Pineda, whose true birth name is Samuel Hernandez-Pimental, to 20 years (240 months) in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Pineda will be deported after serving his active sentence.

Pineda was one of over 116 defendants charged in 2009 following a series of court-authorized, FBI-monitored wiretaps over multiple telephones in the Columbia area. The evidence in the case indicated that Pineda, a Mexican citizen who illegally re-entered the United States following an earlier deportation, assisted by his brother Alfredo Pimental, a/k/a “Buli,” a/k/a “Alfredo Pimentel,” a/k/a “Alfredo Hernandez-Pimentel,” a/k/a “Alfredo Pimentel-Hernandez,” who is currently a fugitive, was a major supplier of kilogram quantities of cocaine to a number of local drug organizations.

The case was investigated by agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, and the Columbia Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.