Honduras ex-President Hernandez convicted at US drugs trial
Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez was found guilty on Friday of drug trafficking conspiracy by a U.S. jury, cementing the onetime U.S. ally's fall from grace.
Jurors in federal court in Manhattan reached the verdict after about two days, following a two-week trial.
Hernandez, 55, faces possible life in prison. U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel will determine his sentence at a later date.
Renato Stabile, a lawyer for Hernandez, said his client plans to appeal the verdict.
During Hernandez's presidency, which ran from 2014 to 2022, the Central American country received more than $50 million in U.S. anti-narcotics assistance, and tens of millions of dollars in security and military aid.
But the Justice Department said Hernandez abused his power by accepting millions of dollars in bribes from traffickers to protect their U.S.-bound cocaine shipments, and to fuel his rise in Honduran politics.
Hernandez was convicted on three charges: using machine guns to further a cocaine importation conspiracy, conspiring to use machine guns to further that conspiracy, and conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
"Juan Orlando Hernandez abused his position as President of Honduras to operate the country as a narco-state where violent drug traffickers were allowed to operate with virtual impunity, and the people of Honduras and the United States were forced to suffer the consequences," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement after the verdict.
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