Prosecutors say it was his first offense.
It’s off to prison for a Frederick man who dealing heroin. Ernesto G. Delgado, 32, was sentenced on Tuesday to five years behind bars.
State’s Attorney Charlie Smith says Delgado was actually given 20 years, with 15-years suspended.
He says Delgado was arrested after police served a search warrant on his apartment along Waverly Drive in October, 2015. “Inside of an apartment over there, they found the defendant. He was Mirandized, and indicated that he had gone to Baltimore every three to four weeks to pick up 250 bindles of heroin which he sells for ten-dollar apiece back here in Frederick,” says Smith.
A bindle is an envelop which contains a narcotic like heroin.
Delgado was charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession of heroin and use of a firearm in a drug trafficking operation. He pleaded guilty in March to possession of heroin with intent to distribute.
“He indicated during sentencing that he lost his job and was desperate to make money to support his two children in Puerto Rico. He said that he was not a user,” says Smith.
He also says the State is satisfied with the sentence. “He had no prior criminal history whatsoever, or driving record, and his guidelines were much lower that than,” says Smith. “This is someone who Deputy State’s Attorney Nanci Hamm called a poster boy for why we have a heroin epidemic, and that’s why we were successful in getting him five years to serve.”