DJ Hernandez sentenced to time served in shooting threats case

HARTFORD, Conn. — The brother of the late New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was sentenced Friday to 18 months of prison time already served for threatening to carry out a shooting at the University of Connecticut and to kill three people, including a judge, in 2023.

Dennis Hernandez, 38, who went by “DJ” while playing quarterback and wide receiver for UConn football in the mid-2000s, was suffering severe mental health problems at the time of the threats and has since received treatment and medication, according to his public defender, Josh Ewing.

U.S. District Judge Sarala Nagala in Hartford also sentenced Hernandez to three years of supervised release, during which he must continue mental health and substance abuse treatment, allow probation officials to monitor his electronic devices and stay away from UConn and other locations he threatened, the Connecticut U.S. attorney’s office said.

Hernandez, who apologized for his actions during brief comments in court, was expected to be released from custody Friday afternoon, The Hartford Courant reported. Federal Bureau of Prison records showed he was no longer in custody Friday evening.

A message left at a phone listed for Hernandez was not immediately returned.

State criminal charges in Connecticut and Florida in other cases — including allegations he threw a brick with a note critical of the media onto ESPN headquarters property in Bristol, Connecticut — are expected to be dismissed because of the federal case, Ewing said, adding that those incidents happened during the same mental health crisis.

Ewing did not immediately return phone and email messages after the sentencing. In court documents, he wrote that Hernandez was “horrified” at how his actions terrified others, is remorseful and committed to maintaining his mental health.

Hernandez pleaded guilty to a felony — transmitting interstate communications containing a threat to injure — in December.

Police said he drove to the UConn campus and to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he once served as quarterbacks coach, to “map the schools out” for a shooting in July 2023. Court filings said Hernandez was struggling financially, was frustrated at seeing other people get hired as football coaches and felt owed by UConn.

Also that month, prosecutors said Hernandez made multiple Facebook posts threatening to harm or kill three people who live in other states, including a state court judge.

His mother, Terri Hernandez, told police around the time of his 2023 arrest in Bristol that he had deteriorating mental health problems, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Dennis Hernandez was shocked with a Taser and taken into custody after he came out of his sister’s house with his arms raised, yelling “shoot me” and threatening to harm officers, police said.

Terri Hernandez and several other relatives and friends wrote letters to the judge supporting Dennis Hernandez asking that he be released from detention.