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A Cuban citizen is among six individuals charged with federal drug trafficking offenses following the declassification of two formal charges by the Middle District of Florida Prosecutor's Office, related to the distribution of fentanyl in the Tampa area. The accused has been identified as Daniel Dayan Hernández-Hernández, 34 years old.
According to court documents, the defendants are alleged to have participated in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of fentanyl on multiple occasions throughout the region, through separate conspiracies, local media reported.
Each defendant, if found guilty of all charges, faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison and could face up to life imprisonment. The charges include distribution or possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, and some defendants also face charges of attempted distribution.
In addition to Hernández-Hernández, the other five defendants are Theophilus Santroy Williams, 43 years old, from Tampa; Maurice Labrone Copeland, 43 years old, from Tampa; Edward Verdi-Bruno, 33 years old, currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution Coleman; Roshard Dawayne Lewis, 41 years old, from Port Richey; and Journey Lynn Harding, 24 years old, from Tampa.
The Cuban defendant has a prior arrest record in Lee County, Florida, in December 2024, for failing to appear in court, with a bond set at $5,000.
The investigation was conducted by multiple federal and local agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Postal Inspection Service, the Tampa Police Department, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
The case is part of the operations of the National Security Task Force Region 20, based in Tampa, established under Executive Order 14159 by President Donald Trump to combat criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational drug trafficking.
Federal prosecutors Jeff Chang and Samantha Newman are handling the case under the direction of Attorney General Gregory W. Kehoe. Authorities have not disclosed details on how the fentanyl may have been transported or if the two charges are directly related beyond operating in the same federal district.
Federal prosecutors reminded that a formal charge is an accusation and that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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