Cook County man sentenced after police recover enough fentanyl to kill over 5M adults

DuPAGE COUNTY, Ill. - A Cook County man has been sentenced to 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for coordinating the transportation and accepting the delivery of more than 10 kilograms of fentanyl.

Jerry De Jesus Rodriguez Hernandez, 25, formerly of Stickney, entered a plea of guilty on Feb. 1 to one count of calculated criminal drug conspiracy.

The DuPage County State's Attorney's Office and the Illinois State Police said they became aware of a large fentanyl delivery from California that De Jesus Rodriguez Hernandez arranged to take place in December 2020.

While under the surveillance of authorities, De Jesus Rodriguez Hernandez took delivery of about 10,581.5 grams of fentanyl on Dec. 24, 2020.

He was taken into custody at that time and has remained in custody at the DuPage County Jail on a bond of $2 million.

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According to officials, the amount of fentanyl recovered in this case is enough to kill more than five million adults.

"The sheer amount of fentanyl that Mr. De Jesus Rodriguez Hernandez intended to flood our streets with is staggering," said DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin. "If not for the truly outstanding work of the Illinois State Police and DuMEG, more than ten kilograms of perhaps the most dangerous street drug available today would have found its way to communities throughout Illinois. That is more than enough to kill the entire population of DuPage County five times."

De Jesus Rodriguez Hernandez will be required to serve 75 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, prosecutors said.