{"id":253025,"date":"2026-04-05T15:35:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/253025\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:35:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:35:18","slug":"he-was-willing-to-testify-against-the-cartel-ice-got-to-him-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/253025\/","title":{"rendered":"He was willing to testify against the cartel. ICE got to him first"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cartel-informant-ICE-dropcap-F.png\" <\/p>\n

For Javier Hernandez, cooperating with federal prosecutors felt like the only option.<\/p>\n

Hernandez, 48, faced up to life in prison after U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Fontana police arrested him and seized nearly 22 pounds of meth during a 2015 operation targeting cross-border drug smuggling. Recovering from drug addiction and desperate to avoid being separated from his family, he would do whatever it took to minimize his sentence \u2014 even testifying against people he feared were connected to the cartels.<\/p>\n

Then, a year before Hernandez was set to testify, he received an email with a list of his loved ones, according to a copy of the message reviewed by The Times. At the bottom of the message was a picture of a dead man, his body covered in bandages and stained with blood.<\/p>\n

Hernandez said he and his wife were terrified. But fear of retribution wasn\u2019t what kept him from taking the witness stand last year. It was Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n

Six months before trial, ICE agents detained Hernandez in San Bernardino, court records show. In March 2025, he was deported to Tijuana. ICE did not consult with federal prosecutors in Los Angeles before moving to deport their witness, U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder said during a hearing last year.<\/p>\n

Without Hernandez\u2019s testimony to bolster the prosecution\u2019s case, his co-defendants were acquitted of all charges. <\/p>\n

Former ICE officials and ex-federal prosecutors say the case highlights how the Trump administration has prioritized deportation efforts over other forms of law enforcement, even serious drug cases.<\/p>\n

Hernandez was warned he could still be deported under the terms of his deal with prosecutors, but John Sandweg, who served as ICE\u2019s acting director under President Obama, said past administrations coordinated in similar circumstances to ensure informants remained safely in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime someone was a federal defendant or critical witness in a federal case, it would be shocking if we executed a removal of that individual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security described Hernandez as a \u201cclear and present threat to public safety\u201d whom agents had to detain quickly. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to release criminal illegal aliens, including drug traffickers, from our custody onto our streets. We fight for justice for all victims of illegal alien crime, but we are not going to allow illegal aliens to perpetrate more crimes and smuggle more drugs into our communities to kill our children and grandchildren,\u201d the agency\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson did not respond to questions about the impact that deporting Hernandez had on a criminal trial which ended with two alleged drug smugglers walking free. Hernandez has prior convictions for weapons offenses, driving while intoxicated and possession of drugs with intent to sell, according to the Homeland Security spokeperson, who said Hernandez illegally reentered the country in 2013 after a prior deportation.<\/p>\n

In court filings, Asst. U.S. Atty. JohnPaul LeCedre downplayed the significance of the death threat against Hernandez and his family, describing it as \u201cuncorroborated.\u201d In a November 2025 opposition motion, he noted there was no \u201cfollow-up\u201d on the threat and no evidence of \u201congoing cartel interest in this matter.\u201d <\/p>\n

Two former federal prosecutors interviewed for this article said nearly all drug smuggling from Mexico into the U.S. has some connection to Mexican organized crime. <\/p>\n

A second informant testified at trial without the need for added security, LeCedre said in court filings. LeCedre referred questions to a spokesman for the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Los Angeles, who declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\"People <\/p>\n

People wait outside the federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 3.<\/p>\n

(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Ex-federal prosecutor Julie Shemitz, who oversaw the case before leaving the office last year, said that while Hernandez\u2019s testimony would have been important, prosecutors still faced an uphill battle at trial.<\/p>\n

Hernandez\u2019s role in the case was not a matter of public record until late last year. While he appears by the name Javier Hernandez in federal court records and on a Fontana police report, it is not his legal name. The Times is withholding his name based on concerns he could face retaliation for agreeing to cooperate with law enforcement. <\/p>\n

Hernandez lives in hiding in Mexico now, he told The Times. Not even his wife knows where he is. He hasn\u2019t seen his kids since ICE grabbed him in February 2025.<\/p>\n

He lives in a 10-by-10-foot room lined with cardboard boxes, visible as he spoke over video chat. Bars covered the only window. Hernandez says his health has deteriorated and he wondered aloud why anyone would cooperate with federal prosecutors only to be treated like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to do the right thing,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, everything went south.\u201d<\/p>\n

A meth bust gone wrong<\/p>\n

Born in Jalisco, Hernandez said he was brought to the U.S. illegally by his mother when he was a boy. He was raised in Fontana, but said he found himself homeless by the age of 16 after a fight with his abusive stepfather. <\/p>\n

After some time living on the streets, Hernandez said he got hooked on meth when he turned 19. Describing himself as a \u201cfunctional drug addict,\u201d he met his future wife and started working as a handyman, mostly focused on patio installation. Hernandez said they had two children, but money was always tight as he tried to support his family while also feeding his addiction.<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

\"Authorities <\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

\"Authorities <\/p>\n

1. Authorities said they seized nearly 22 pounds of meth during a 2015 operation in Fontana. (Fontana Police Department) 2. The drugs were found hidden in the center console of a vehicle. (Fontana Police Department) <\/p>\n

In 2015, Hernandez said, a friend who shared a meth habit offered him a chance to make some extra money. The man, Raymond Lugo Martinez, asked for help disassembling a car, Hernandez recalled, saying Martinez told him \u201cthere is more than a stereo we got to take out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair met at the Fontana home of Henry Quijada, which prosecutors said was maintained as a location where vehicles loaded with drugs from Mexico could be unloaded, according to the indictment. A woman, Esmeralda Gomez, had recruited someone to drive the car there from Mexico, according to the indictment. <\/p>\n

Lugo and Hernandez were supposed to open up hidden compartments in the car where the meth was stashed, prosecutors alleged. <\/p>\n

The group stayed up partying for several days waiting for the drugs to arrive, according to a federal law enforcement source who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. <\/p>\n

But they didn\u2019t know the man who drove the car to the site was a federal informant, the source said.<\/p>\n

\"People <\/p>\n

A line formed outside the building before immigration court proceedings on North Los Angeles Street on May 23.<\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

When Fontana police and DEA agents arrived at the property, they recovered 18 packages of meth from the center console, each weighing about 1.2 pounds, the police report said. <\/p>\n

Despite the drug seizure and the presence of an informant, the case had problems, according to the federal law enforcement source. <\/p>\n

No one was in physical possession of the drugs when the agents and officers arrived, and the informant was inside the house with Quijada, unable to see or hear what was going on in the garage, the source said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the only evidence against [Martinez] and Quijada. He was all they had … they recovered drugs, but they couldn\u2019t place them with anyone,\u201d said Hernandez\u2019s defense attorney, Ian Wallach.<\/p>\n

Quijada told police he\u2019d simply agreed to let his friends use his garage to work on a car and knew nothing about the drugs, according to the police report. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy client didn\u2019t operate a drop house. He lived there,\u201d said Quijada\u2019s attorney, John Aquilina. \u201cThat was his residence in Fontana. He had lived there for years and years. And he and Hernandez were friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gomez quickly disappeared to Mexico after the DEA raid, the source said. <\/p>\n

Hernandez remained in Fontana, still struggling with drugs, the threat of a long prison sentence hanging over his head.<\/p>\n

Death threats, life in hiding<\/p>\n

The case languished for years after the indictment was handed down in 2016.<\/p>\n

After a stretch in county jail for an unrelated drug arrest, Hernandez said he decided he needed to make a change. In 2020, he entered a rehab program and says he hasn\u2019t touched drugs since. When Shemitz, the former prosecutor, reached out to see if he\u2019d be willing to testify against his old drug friends a year later, he jumped at the chance. <\/p>\n

Hernandez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess meth with intent to distribute in December 2021, court records show.<\/p>\n

Shemitz said Hernandez would have been a critical witness at trial, helping prosecutors fill in holes left by their confidential informant, or \u201cC.I.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe C.I., of course, was wearing a wire, so he taped everything. But the problem was he and Quijada were sitting in the living room with the door to the garage open … there was no tape at all disclosing that Quijada knew, in fact, that there were drugs in the car,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Years went by. Hernandez said he repaired his relationship with his wife and children, started going to church and began working as a welder. <\/p>\n

Hernandez had arrived at a scheduled check-in with ICE in February 2025 as part of the terms of his pretrial release when he was grabbed by agents, according to Wallach. <\/p>\n

Wallach said he started \u201cfreaking out\u201d upon learning his client had been detained by ICE. With what he perceived as cartel threats looming, Wallach feared a return to Mexico would be a death sentence for his client. <\/p>\n

In an exchange of emails from February 2025 reviewed by The Times, Wallach warned federal prosecutors that the case against Quijada would probably collapse without Hernandez\u2019s testimony. <\/p>\n

LeCedre replied saying \u201cthere may be some value\u201d in trying to intervene with ICE to keep Hernandez in the country.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s unclear what further steps he took. <\/p>\n

In early March, Hernandez said, he was dragged from his cell at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, placed in a van, and driven to Tijuana. <\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

The entrance to an immigration detention center in Adelanto, Calif.<\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Emails show LeCedre offered to arrange limited parole that would allow Hernandez to testify at trial. But Wallach said he believed the government had already compromised his client\u2019s safety once, and so he refused to help facilitate his return. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, Quijada and Martinez were acquitted of all charges after a weeklong trial in August. An attorney for Martinez did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Carley Palmer, a former federal prosecutor in L.A., said it\u2019s not unheard of for ICE to deport a witness or defendant ahead of trial, but she believes the Trump administration\u2019s focus on mass deportations and shakeup of government agencies played a role in Hernandez\u2019s case. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that needs to be coordinated on a human level and that gets more complicated when you have attrition of people who worked for DHS and DOJ for a long time,\u201d she said, referring to the mass exodus of federal workers since Trump returned to office. <\/p>\n

Hernandez\u2019s case is the latest in which the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies have created conflict with active criminal prosecutions and triggered concerns about informant safety.<\/p>\n

Late last year, a man who faced a lengthy prison sentence for his role in what some have called the largest jewel heist in U.S. history was deported to Ecuador before trial.<\/a> MS-13 leaders who reportedly<\/a> cooperated with U.S. authorities were also shipped last year to a mega-prison in El Salvador.<\/p>\n

A federal law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the DEA heavily relies on the use of informants to bring cases against drug trafficking organizations and feared news of Hernandez\u2019s treatment would harm future cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cInformants are the lifeblood of the DEA,\u201d the official said. \u201cIf you can\u2019t assure an informant that they\u2019re protected … what\u2019s the incentive for them?\u201d<\/p>\n

In a letter to a federal judge written last year, Wallach warned that the government\u2019s decision to prioritize deportation over protecting his client was likely to discourage informants from coming forward in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is texting me now from Tijuana seeking some avenue for safety. I have none to offer,\u201d Wallach wrote. \u201cThis situation is sure to repeat itself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Javier Hernandez, cooperating with federal prosecutors felt like the only option. Hernandez, 48, faced up to life…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[283,1436,6874,112273,14627,112272,2321,112275,2871,112274,48,52,51,7036,47,50,49,40528,2457,1428,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-253025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-car","9":"tag-case","10":"tag-drug","11":"tag-ex-federal-prosecutor","12":"tag-federal-prosecutor","13":"tag-henry-quijada","14":"tag-hernandez","15":"tag-ian-wallach","16":"tag-ice","17":"tag-johnpaul-lecedre","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-la-headlines","20":"tag-la-news","21":"tag-last-year","22":"tag-los-angeles","23":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","24":"tag-los-angeles-news","25":"tag-meth","26":"tag-mexico","27":"tag-trial","28":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}