Narco Corrido Singer Larry Hernandez arrives in S.C. Free on Bail

by Lucio R. Borderland Beat

Hernandez' cross country odyssey ended Friday morning

After nine days of being released for transfer from a Southern California jail, narco corrido singer

Larry Hernandez arrives in Newberry, South Carolina to face kidnapping charges.

This morning Borderland Beat was told that that singer had arrived at 6:36 a.m. and was scheduled to  face a judge at a bail hearing on Saturday, but less than 3 hours later the suspect faced the judge when the hearing was moved up to 11 a.m.  

The judge imposed  a set bail in the amount of $200,000.

Under the conditions of bail, Hernandez was allowed to return to his Southern California home in West Covina, but must report to the court every two weeks and submit to random drug testing.

“Larry Hernandez was also ordered to surrender his passport and forbidden to have any contact with the victim or any other co-defendants,” said Police Chief Roy McClurkin

Hernandez’s charges stems  from an Aug. 17 event where the victim alleges he was held against his will by individuals associated with a concert  at a Newberry skating rink.

Hernandez waves after making bail

The victim reported to the  police that he was wrapped in clear plastic wrap and beaten by Hernandez and another man.

Hernandez’ transfer was a puzzlement to those of us not familiar with the various methods used to transfer inmates.  Personally, I envisioned a “hand off” of custody to Newberry officials, a boarding of a plane with a cuffed Hernandez in tow and a cross country flight. Having Hernandez in S.C. by Thursday morning.

None of that scenario became reality.  However, since the media was not getting information from Newberry, the family or the attorneys in the case we were left to our own detective skills.  BB began calling Newberry County Jail commanders desk each morning to check status.  They are required to give information (FOIA) if an inmate is jailed or was jailed at the facility, court dates etc. 

It became a “Where’s Waldo” situation, with many readers here at BB and elsewhere calling foul, some surmising that he was allowed to go free, and his supporters thinking something happened that placed him in danger.

We know that Mexican media outlets follow BB, and have referenced us in the past, so it was not a surprise when they picked up the “Where’s Larry” story and ran with it.  A BB reader found Hernandez in Reno and sent the link in to BB to access a copy of the mugshot. We shopped the mug because of huge think font running across half the photo, and some Mexican media used the shopped mugshop.   La Opinion had a headline:

Where is Larry Hernandez?

Neither his family nor the authorities confirm the exact whereabouts of the singer extradited to South Carolina

They added the Reno mug and a map showing how  to travel from SoCal to S.C. it takes only 11 hours.  Two hrs to LAX and the remainder to S.C. with a stop.  Actually Ontario International airport is but 20 minutes from the jail which would have been the airport of choice.

Interesting from the La Opinion piece, was the report that when fans in the Reno area heard Hernandez was in the Reno Facility, they rushed to the jail, attempted to visit him, and attempted to deposit money in an account for him to purchase personal needs. 

Larry has returned to his SoCal home.  Although Hernandez gave his home an overhaul
homes in his neighborhood are blue collar type, less than 1200 sq ft bungalows.  55% of the
 population are latino with an average income of 61k

They failed to help in any way because he was a “Extradition Prisoner in Transit” and as such was not formally processed and thereby could not receive visits, goods, or money.  Opinion reported that fans gathered outside of the Reno Jail in protest thinking Hernandez was being treated differently and purposely delaying his transfer.

But in reality, he was just a regular inmate, being transferred from facility to facility by bus, with stops to sleep along the way, over a nine day journey.

His next court hearing is on December 31, 2015.