US Sentences Former Honduras President to 45 Years for Drug Charges
On Wednesday, June 26, a New York court sentenced Juan Orlando Hernandez, former President of Honduras, to 45 years in prison.
Hernandez was found guilty in March of aiding cartels in smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine into the US.
The sentence includes an $8 million fine (approximately €7.5 million).
Though the prison term is less than the life sentence sought by prosecutors, at 55 years old, Hernandez is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Judge P. Kevin Castel stated the sentence should serve as a warning to “well-educated, well-dressed” individuals who misuse their power, thinking they are above the law.
Hernandez, through an interpreter, maintained his innocence in court, claiming he was wrongly accused and indicating plans to appeal the conviction.
Protesters outside the New York court displayed banners calling for an end to the drug trade and pictures of those who died from it in Honduras.
US federal prosecutors accused Hernandez of turning Honduras into a “narco-state” during his presidency from 2014 to 2022.
In March, he was convicted of facilitating the trafficking of around 500 tons of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela to the US via Honduras.
Hernandez’s involvement allegedly began in 2004, before his presidency.
Prosecutors argued Hernandez used drug money for personal gain, to fund his political campaign, and to commit electoral fraud in the 2013 and 2017 elections.
Hernandez was extradited to the US in 2022 after leaving office, with Honduras’s top court approving his extradition.
In court, Hernandez portrayed himself as a hero fighting drug trafficking alongside three former US presidents. Judge Castel dismissed this, calling him a “two-faced politician hungry for power” and highlighting his use of police and military to protect the cocaine trade.
Hernandez joins other Latin American leaders convicted of narcotics trafficking in the US, including Panama’s Manuel Noriega in 1992 and Guatemala’s Alfonso Portillo in 2014.
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