Former Honduran President Hernandez sentenced to 45 years in prison

An American court sentenced former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez to 45 years in prison. In March, a jury convicted him of accepting multimillion-dollar bribes to protect U.S.-bound cocaine shipments belonging to traffickers he once publicly announced he was fighting.

Judge Kevin Castel said his prosecution should send a clear message to those who believe they can avoid prosecution because of their behavior or position in society.

He said the jury saw him for what he was – a two-faced politician hungry for power.

Hernandez declared that he was wrongly convicted, even claiming that some witnesses may have testified against him to commute their sentences.

He told the judge he was innocent and the truth would come out later.

Hernandez was president of Honduras, a U.S. ally in Central America, from 2014 to 2022.

When he was president, he claimed to be fighting drug cartels in his country.

In October 2019, he proudly declared: “We will not stop working to make Honduras a hostile country against drug traffickers and gangs.”

Prosecutors say the reality was completely different. Hernandez facilitated the transportation of at least 400 tons of cocaine into the United States, fueling addiction and violence.

Hernanadez was arrested three months into his term in 2022 and extradited to the United States to stand trial.

After returning to Honduras, the former president’s wife called the verdict a “judicial lynching.” Ana Hernandez plans to run for office next year. She vowed to fight his beliefs. “My husband Juan Orlando Hernandez is innocent of any of the false charges brought against him. Today is an episode in a series of injustices that have occurred. Today he was wrongly sentenced to 45 years. The one who fought against criminals faces a higher punishment than the most terrible murderers Honduras has ever seen. What kind of justice is that?” – she asked, surrounded by emotional relatives.

Hernandez’s brother, Tony, was also convicted in the drug case and is serving a life sentence in a California prison.