Former president of Honduras convicted in U.S. of aiding drug traffickers

NEW YORK —  Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted Friday in New York of charges that he conspired with drug traffickers and used his military and national police force to enable tons of cocaine to make it unhindered into the United States.

The jury returned its verdict at a federal court after a two-week trial, which has been closely followed in his home country.

Hernández was convicted of conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and two weapons counts. The charges carry a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison and a potential maximum of life. Sentencing was set for June 26.

Hernández, 55, who served two terms as the leader of the Central American nation of roughly 10 million people, patted a defense attorney, Renato Stabile, on the back as they stood while the jurors filed out after the reading of the verdict.

When the news reached nearly 100 opponents of Hernández on the street outside the courthouse, they applauded and began jumping into the air.

The scene in the courtroom was subdued as the jury foreperson announced verdicts on three counts and each juror affirmed the verdict.

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“We live in a country where 12 people can’t agree on a pizza topping,” Judge P. Kevin Castel told jurors, praising them for reaching the unanimous verdict. “That’s why I’m in awe of you.”

Defense attorney Sabrina Shroff said Hernandez will appeal the conviction.

In a release, U.S. Atty. Damian Williams said he hopes the conviction “sends a message to all corrupt politicians who would consider a similar path: choose differently.”

He added that Hernández “had every opportunity to be a force for good in his native Honduras. Instead, he chose to abuse his office and country for his own personal gain and partnered with some of the largest and most violent drug trafficking organizations in the world to transport tons of cocaine to the United States.”

Hernández was arrested at his home in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, three months after leaving office in 2022 and was extradited to the U.S. that April.

U.S. prosecutors accused Hernández of working with drug traffickers as long ago as 2004, saying he took millions of dollars in bribes as he rose from rural congressman to president of the National Congress and then to the country’s highest office.

Hernández acknowledged in trial testimony that drug money was paid to virtually all political parties in Honduras, but he denied accepting bribes himself.

He noted that he had visited the White House and met U.S. presidents as he cast himself as a champion in the war on drugs who worked with Washington to curb the flow of drugs into this country.

In one instance, he said, he was warned by the FBI that a drug cartel wanted to assassinate him. He said his accusers fabricated their claims about him in bids for leniency for their crimes.

“They all have motivation to lie, and they are professional liars,” Hernández said.

But the prosecution mocked Hernández for seemingly claiming to be the only honest politician in Honduras.

During closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jacob Gutwillig told the jury that a corrupt Hernández “paved a cocaine superhighway to the United States.”

Trial witnesses included traffickers who admitted responsibility for dozens of murders and said Hernández was an enthusiastic protector of some of the world’s most powerful cocaine dealers, including Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is serving a life prison term in the United States.

Hernández was mostly dispassionate as he testified through an interpreter, repeatedly saying “no sir” as he was asked if he ever paid bribes or promised to protect traffickers from extradition to the U.S.

His brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, a former Honduran congressman, was sentenced to life in prison in 2021 in Manhattan federal court for his own conviction on drug charges.

Neumeister writes for the Associated Press.