Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández has been sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for trafficking several tons of drugs and related firearms offenses, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday.
Hernandez, 55, abused his power to facilitate the importation of more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States, guarded by his co-conspirators' weapons, including machine guns, AK-47s, AR-15s and grenade launchers. according to The Justice Department added that Hernández is a former president of Honduras and former speaker of the Honduran National Congress, and that from approximately 2004 to approximately 2022, he was “a central figure in one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.”
Hernandez's co-conspirators also used weapons to protect drug trafficking proceeds and to exclude rivals from drug-trafficking territories, according to a Justice Department statement.
Hernández reportedly rose to power by accepting millions of dollars in bribes from the largest and most violent international drug cartels in Honduras, Mexico and other countries. According to the Justice Department, he protected his co-conspirators, “helping them move mountains of cocaine, commit violence and murder, and turn Honduras into one of the most dangerous countries in the world.”
Hernández, also known as JOH, reportedly weaponized his country's extradition policy against rival drug traffickers. He and his co-conspirators abused Honduran institutions, using heavily armed Honduran National Police officers to guard cocaine shipments bound for the U.S. In some cases, they attacked and killed rival drug traffickers, according to the Department of Justice. (Related: Four Hondurans indicted for trafficking enough fentanyl to kill 1.6 million people)
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Traffic More than 400 Tons of Cocaine and Related Firearms Offenses
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— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) June 26, 2024
Hernández's co-conspirators also included his brother, former Honduran congressman Juan Antonio Hernández Alvarado (aka Tony Hernández). He was sentenced in March 2021. They were sentenced to life in prison and ordered to forfeit $138.5 million. The former president's cousin, Mauricio Hernández Pineda, who also served in the Honduran National Police, will be sentenced on July 2. Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, also known as El Tigre, a former head of the Honduran National Police, is scheduled to be sentenced on August 1.
According to the Department of Justice, Hernandez and his co-conspirators imported more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States, the equivalent of at least 4.5 billion doses of cocaine.
Damien Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Hernandez “had every opportunity to make a positive difference for his country” but instead chose to aid drug trafficking. “After years of running one of the most destructive drug trafficking operations imaginable, Hernandez will spend 45 years in federal prison,” the prosecutor added.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the United States bore the brunt of Hernández's actions, adding that “the Department of Justice will hold accountable all who participate in violent drug trafficking, regardless of their power or position.”
Hernández was arrested in Honduras in February 2022 following a U.S. extradition request and convicted in March 2024.
After serving his sentence, Hernandez will be on supervised probation for five years.
