Former Honduran president sentenced to 45 years for trafficking drugs to US

BOGOTA, Colombia

A former Honduran president was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in prison on drug trafficking charges under a New York court ruling.

Juan Orlando Hernandez, 55, was declared guilty on all charges presented by the US Justice Department including conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and to hold weapons.

Hernandez, who governed the Central American country between 2014 and 2022, is accused of turning Honduras into a drug route to the US. It is estimated that he helped move at least 400 tons of cocaine to the US by using the country's police to illegally export the drug.

During the trial, drug traffickers involved in the plot said that Hernandez accepted drug cartel money, including the sum of $1 million from the Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquin “el Chapo” Guzman.

Federal District Judge Kevin Caste also imposed a fine of $8 million on the former president and called on his defense to clarify how he will pay the penalty.

While in power, Hernandez declared himself a faithful ally of the US in the fight against drug trafficking. Before reading out the ruling, Castel called Hernandez “a two-faced man.”

“With one he proclaimed his commitment against drug trafficking and with the other he facilitated the importation of tons of cocaine worth up to $10 million.”

Hernandez insisted on his innocence.

“I am innocent,” he said at the sentencing hearing. “I was wrongly and unjustly accused.”

"Prosecutors and agents did not do due diligence in the investigation to learn the entire truth," said a letter sent by Hernandez to Castel.

The former president was arrested in 2022 in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, just three months after leaving office, and was extradited to the US that April.