Oliver Hernandez-Llanes, Minnesota Man of the Week

Our Minnesota Man of the week found himself in Federal Court in downtown Minneapolis this Friday morning, pleading guilty to a felony count. Your correspondent was there.

At one point during his hour-long court appearance, Mr. Hernandez admitted to a slight headache, as did we all with the morning air full of Canadian wildfire smoke.

Billed out of Richfield, Oliver Hernandez-Llanes, age 49, (a/k/a Eduardo Jiminez-Gonzalez) stands convicted of one felony count of illegal re-entry of a deported alien. Prosecutors also documented one prior deportation on his record.

Unlike many such cases that I’ve been following, persecutors seem interested in having Mr. Hernandez serve some federal prison time before he is deported back to Mexico.

This most recent saga began back in September 2021, when county deputies executed search warrants on his automobile and his Richfield apartment. Five felony drug dealing charges followed, for both cocaine and meth. For whatever reason, Hernandez wasn’t taken into custody until May 2023. In December 2023, he plea bargained it down to a single drug-dealing felony and was sentenced to three years in state prison (downward departure, of course).

The shocking thing is that Hernandez actually appears to have served some time in state prison. He received credit for time served at the front end and he appears to have been released a few months early. But when he got out in May 2025, he was picked up by the feds and has been in the Sherburne County jail since May 28.

And there he will stay for a while longer. His sentencing date has been set for November 18.

When that hearing does come around, the judge will have much to consider. The prosecution and defense couldn’t come to an agreement on a recommend sentence. The range goes from 1 month to 21 months, with a maximum of 24 months.

So, either the judge will send Hernandez to federal prison for a year or so or will credit him for time served and hasten his return south of the border.

¡Adiós, Oliver!