A drug informant who helped the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration build some of its biggest cases has been arrested and charged with scheming to extort major cocaine traffickers facing extradition from Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
Jorge Hernandez, 57, was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud. He remains in custody after being arrested and making his initial court appearance Wednesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.
Court papers allege that Hernandez operated a scheme starting in 2020 in which he pretended to be a paralegal who, for the right price, could obtain lighter sentences for drug kingpins, according to 17-page FBI affidavit.
The FBI alleged that Hernandez demanded payments of 1 million from six suspected drug traffickers who ended up surrendering or being extradited to the U.S.
In exchange for the payments - which came in the form of cash, jewelry, properties and vehicles in Colombia - Hernandez guaranteed short prison sentences that would be served "in an apartment similar to being on house arrest," the court papers said.