Dealer gets jail in drug death

Fatal overdose brings 30-year federal sentence

A drug dealer who prosecutors said showed “total disregard for human life” was sentenced Friday to 30 years in federal prison for supplying the fentanyl that caused a Palm Beach County man’s fatal overdose.

In the first federal prosecution of its kind in Palm Beach County, Christopher Sharod Massena, 25, of Lake Worth, was found criminally liable for the death of Christian “Ty” Hernandez, 23, of Wellington.

The fentanyl Massena sold to Hernandez was “50 to 100 times more powerful” than the heroin the victim thought he was buying, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra on Friday also ordered Massena to pay $5,000 in restitution to the victim's parents. His prison time will be followed by three years of supervised release.

Massena’s defense argued Friday that he never intended to kill anyone and he maintains that the fentanyl that killed Hernandez was not supplied by him.

The defense also suggested that the victim was at least partly responsible for his death because he was a heroin addict.

That argument is “frankly offensive,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Nucci said. She said Hernandez was vulnerable and Massena knew it.

Hernandez had been purchasing heroin, and other drugs, from Massena for about a month before his death, prosecutors said.

Massena clearly knew Hernandez was severely addicted to illegal narcotics and the evidence proved that Hernandez thought “he was using heroin, not fentanyl, purchased from the defendant on the night he died,” Nucci said.

Authorities found evidence on Hernandez’s cellphone that showed Massena was his dealer. They began an investigation and he was arrested after making four separate sales of fentanyl and heroin to an undercover officer, they said. In August, jurors took just two hours to find Massena guilty of supplying the drugs that led to the fatal overdose. He had already pleaded guilty to other related charges.

When the undercover officer told Massena that one of his clients complained she had suffered a non-fatal overdose, prosecutors said Massena’s reaction made it clear how little he cared about the consequences of his actions.

According to a transcript of the secretly recorded conversation, Massena laughed and said: “That’s a good thing when they call to say that.”

Hernandez’s parents, Frank and Margaret Hernandez, said they hope the case will lead to more drug dealers being charged with causing their clients’ deaths.

In court, Margaret Hernandez told Massena she would think of him and pray for him every day that he is in prison: “But I also will have peace knowing you will not destroy another family like you destroyed mine.”

She expressed compassion for Massena’s mother: “The world has lost two young men — one to death, one to prison. But one thing his mom gets is to talk to him, if she chooses, and to hug him.”

Hernandez’s parents said their son was a good, loving kid who struggled with drug addiction. He graduated from an ROTC program at a Georgia high school and the family lived in Pembroke Pines, before they settled in Wellington.

Like many other families, they said they did everything they could to try to help him overcome his addiction, even making him take drug tests.

Hernandez died Feb. 19 shortly after using fentanyl. His mother testified in trial that she found her son face down, purple, and gripping the mattress in his locked bedroom in their home.

Massena spoke briefly in court, thanking his lawyer and the judge for giving him a fair trial and his family for supporting him. His lawyer indicated he plans to appeal his criminal conviction and the sentence.

The defense suggested the minimum punishment allowed by law, 20 years in prison term, saying that would not be a “slap on the wrist.”

The prosecution asked for more than 33 years in prison.

Prosecutors told the judge that Massena deserved a harsh punishment, because of what he did and because of his serious 10-year criminal history, which started when he was 15.

They said he repeatedly showed that lesser punishments had no effect on him and he cared only about himself and making money. Just 4 months after getting out of state prison for the latest prior offense, they said he began selling drugs to Hernandez.

Nucci told the judge she often argues that convicts need to go to prison before they hurt someone: “In this case, he already has. He has killed somebody.” She said Massena showed “not an iota of remorse.”

Massena’s supporters yelled insults as they left the courtroom and were escorted out of the building. Later, some of them drove by, leaned out the window of their vehicle and hollered “He killed his damned self ” at the victim’s parents while they spoke to reporters.

Hernandez’s mom told reporters she holds her deceased son accountable for taking drugs, but not for the fatal fentanyl dose because he thought he was taking heroin.

The prosecution said the most recent statistics available show that drug overdoses in Palm Beach County have increased 425 percent and the county has a higher number of overdose deaths than Broward or MiamiDade counties. Investigators said they hope other drug dealers will pay attention to the case.

Hernandez’s parents and siblings said they are now working to help other families and to try to influence legislation. Hernandez’s mom said she urges other families who are coping with addiction to let go of the shame many feel and work to improve the world.