INDIANAPOLIS -- Buster Hernandez spoke in monosyllables Friday as a federal judge laid out the 26 felony counts in the indictment against him.
Yes, he said, he understood his rights. No, he had no questions about the charges. Yes, he had agreed to waive a detention hearing – meaning he will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service until his eventual trial.
Hernandez, a 26-year-old from Bakersfield, California, seemed a diminutive figure in court compared to the magnitude of the case against him. Short, stocky, with buzzed hair and wearing ta black-and-white striped inmate’s uniform, he answered the few questions posed to him with brief responses in a nasal voice.
Above: Buster Hernandez, 26, sits in a courtroom at the federal courthouse in Indianapolis as a judge explains the charges he faces. (sketch by artist Tina Hansford)
Online, though, federal investigators have linked Hernandez to a years-long campaign of cyber terror that targeted underage females with threats of violence and blackmail in order to extort compromising images from them.
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From his Bakersfield home, investigators say Hernandez targeted students and Plainfield and Danville high schools in Indiana under the online moniker “Brian Kil.”
In Maine, they claim he used another name: “The Purge of Maine.”
Because he waived his right to a detention hearing, Hernandez’s appearance in the federal courthouse in Indianapolis on Friday was brief. Judge Tim Baker, after advising him again of his rights, told Hernandez what the penalties could be if found guilty on each of the counts he faces.
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For counts 1-6, the charges accusing Hernandez of producing child pornography, he faces up to 50 years in prison on each count. If found guilty and eventually released, he could potentially face lifetime supervision.
Counts 7-9 charge Hernandez with distributing child pornography and carry a sentencing range of 5-20 years in prison, along with a maximum fine of $250,000.
Counts 10-13, dealing with threats Hernandez allegedly made to blow up Plainfield and Danville high schools and The Shops at Perry Crossing, carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, in addition to a maximum fine of $250,000.
The remaining counts against Hernandez, counts 14-26, cover Hernandez’s alleged threats to kidnap, rape and/or kill his victims, members of their family, significant others and police and other first responders. Those counts carry a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison each.
A trial date in Hernandez’s case has not yet been set. The Department of Justice has asked anyone who believes they may be a victim of Hernande to contact the Indianapolis FBI office at www.tips.fbi.gov or via phone at 317-595-4000.
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