2 sentenced to prison for trafficking meth from Los Angeles to Bemidji

ST. PAUL — Two men have been sentenced to prison for trafficking methamphetamine that was shipped through the mail from Los Angeles to Bemidji.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, on July 20, 2021, 26-year-old Molandas Johnson brought five pounds of meth to a post office in Los Angeles and shipped it to a Bemidji address.

After federal agents in Minnesota observed Johnson ship the package, the agents obtained a search warrant to seize it.

Days later, U.S. Postal Investigators and other officers conducted a controlled delivery of the package in Bemidji, and observed co-conspirator Luis Francisco Hernandez, 24, picking up the package.

Johnson pleaded guilty on July 6, 2022, to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and was sentenced on Jan. 25, 2023, to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Hernandez also pleaded guilty on July 6, 2022, to the distribution of controlled substances. He was sentenced on Feb. 9, 2023, to nine years in prison, followed by four years of supervised release.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force.