The United States on Friday found former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez guilty of drug trafficking following a two-week trial in Manhattan.
Prosecutors accused the 55-year-old of conspiring with various drug cartels during his tenure as the groups moved over 400 tons of cocaine through his country and into the U.S. They argued that in exchange, the cartels paid the ex-Honduran president millions of dollars in bribes that he then used to fuel his rise in his nation's politics.
Former Honduras President Convicted
Hernandez was the Honduran president from 2014 until 2022 and he was extradited to the United States in the latter year. It happened after the completion of his second term in office over charges of conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S., conspiracy to possess firearms and destructive devices for drug trafficking, and possession of this type of weapon during the drug trafficking conspiracy.
Following his conviction, the former Honduran president is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison for each of the charges. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said that when Hernandez was the leader of his country, he "protected and enriched the drug traffickers in his inner circle," according to CNN.
The DOJ cited Hernandez' use of executive power to support extradictions of certain drug traffickers to the U.S. who supposedly threatened his grip on power. He is also said to have promised drug traffickers who paid him and followed his instructions that they would remain in Honduras.
Prosecutors in the case added that members of the conspiracy Hernandez participated in relied on the Honduran National Police in order to protect cocaine loads as they were moved through the country.
The former Honduran president denied the charges against him and testified in his own defense earlier this week. A lawyer for Hernandez on Friday said that they would appeal the conviction for the charges.
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Drug Trafficking Case
Prior to his arrest, the Honduran president was seen as a strong U.S. ally. During his presidency, his country received more than $50 million in anti-narcotics assistance from the American government. It also received millions of dollars in security and military aid, said BBC.
Former United States President Donald Trump in 2019 thanked Hernandez for "working with the United States very closely." In response, the former Honduran president thanked the Republican businessman and the American people for the support that they gave in the nation's fight against drug trafficking.
Prosecutors were able to find that Hernandez had been linked with drug traffickers as far back as 2004. This happened long before he won the Honduran presidency. They said in one allegation that Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman gave Tony Hernandez, the former Honduran president's younger brother, $1 million as a bribe.
The verdict against Hernandez underscores the extent to which narcotics gangs have already penetrated some Latin American governments.
A historian and Honduras expert at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Dana Frank, questioned how the U.S. government was unaware of what was going on. She argued that they chose to look the other way, according to the Washington Post.
