On Friday in New York, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted of charges of conspiring with drug traffickers and using both his military and national police force to move cocaine into the United States.
Hernández, 55, who served two terms as President, was arrested in 2022 at his home in the Honduran capital a few months after leaving office before ultimately being extradited to the U.S.
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.
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During closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Gutwillig told the jury that a corrupt Hernández “paved a cocaine superhighway to the United States.”
Nearly 100 opponents of Hernandez waited in the street outside the courthouse for the verdict and applauded and celebrated after hearing the outcome.
According to the Post, during the trial of accused Honduran drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez, Gutwillig said in his opening statement that “the accountant was present when Hernández allegedly said he wanted to ‘shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.’”
Gutwillig added, “They plotted to send as much cocaine as possible to the United States.”
After the verdict, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams shared, “Juan Orlando Hernandez 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. It is my sincere hope that this conviction sends a message to all corrupt politicians who would consider a similar path: choose differently. My Office will stop at nothing to investigate and prosecute those responsible for sending poison to this community, no matter their status or political power.”
Statement of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams on the conviction of Juan Orlando Hernandez, former President of Honduras https://t.co/A2zCLOyZLn pic.twitter.com/ExkZq9mGNG
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) March 8, 2024
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