Above & Beyond Award, 6/17
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Foundation presents an award within PBSO called the Above & Beyond Award. The recipients of the Sheriff’s Foundation Above & Beyond Award for June, 2017 are Agent Jason Bronson, Sergeant Richard Segedin and Officer Carlos Yermanos. Sergeant Steve Haller accepted on their behalf.
Here are the presentation remarks from Mr. Frank Hernandez, a Sheriff’s Foundation Director:
As you know, heroin and fentanyl overdose deaths are a major problem in this county and in our country. We know this all too well as our own son, Christian “Ty” Hernandez, died last year from a fentanyl overdose.
The only consolation is that thanks to these hard-working law enforcement professionals, the low-life who sold my son the drugs was caught, prosecuted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
This was no easy task since drug dealers are rarely punished for the deaths they facilitate. They usually just get arrested for selling drugs and are back on the street in no time. If somebody OD’s, that’s not their problem.
But Agent Bronson, Sergeant Segedin and Officer Yermanos had an idea. Why not track down actionable intelligence from overdose cases, go after the heroin dealers and hold them criminally responsible for distributing the drugs that directly result in death.
As a result, an initiative was launched called Operation Smack Down. This was a partnership between the Palm Beach Narcotics Task Force, the West Palm Beach Police Department, the DEA, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
After my son OD’d, Bronson, Segedin and Yermanos worked tirelessly undercover to identify, locate, contact and eventually meet the dealer who sold the fentanyl to Ty. They risked physical harm by making 4 drug buys from the dealer, and getting the dealer to admit that he knew people were overdosing from his product.
The dealer was arrested and tried in federal court with overwhelming evidence. He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. This was the first time a defendant was indicted on this charge in the Southern District of Florida.
Thanks to their dedication, a dangerous drug dealer was taken off the street, and a strong message was sent to other drug dealers. Agent Bronson, Sergeant Segedin and Officer Yermanos, the Sheriff’s Foundation thanks you for going Above & Beyond! |