Juan Orlando Hernandez: Guilty on all Three Charges
By: Elena Paz
Photo Credits: Al Jazeera
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was found guilty in Manhattan Federal Court of scheming to bring cocaine into the country and other related offenses involving firearms. Juan Orlando Hernández, or JOH, 55, of Honduras, was found guilty on all three charges in the indictment, including violations involving the importation of cocaine and the possession of guns, by a federal jury. On June 26, Hernández is expected to receive his punishment. The former president of the nation and president of the Honduran National Congress, was allegedly at the center of one of the biggest and bloodiest drug trafficking conspiracies in the world from at least in or about 2004 until and including in or about 2022, according to court documents.
Some of the biggest and most deadly trafficking in drugs in Honduras, Mexico, among other countries offered Hernández millions of cash in exchange for drugs, which he used as bribes to advance his career in Honduran politics. During Hernández's time in the Honduran administration, he and his accomplices trafficked over four hundred tons of cocaine headed for the United States through Honduras. During Hernández's crossexamination, a prosecutor questioned him about several photos, one of which showed him with the arm of a known drug dealer wrapped around him during the 2010 World Cup. Hernández denied knowing the individual at the World Cup in any way and implied throughout the interrogation that the photos might be created.
Photo Credits: Al Jazeera
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob H. Gutwillig, David J. Robles, Elinor L. Tarlow, and Kyle A. Wirshba for the Southern District of New York. Trial Attorneys Andrea Broach and Jessica Fender of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section, as well as Paralegal Specialist Kayla A. Collins, are also providing support. Hernandez, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland, had "abused his position" to turn Honduras into a "narco-state."
Even though he was found guilty, his family remains hopeful that he is not guilty. Also, days after her husband was found guilty of drug trafficking in the United States, first lady Ana García de Hernández announced on Tuesday that she intends to run for president of the nation in the upcoming year as a form of justice. Ana Garcia said in a recent conference: “I want to tell you that from this moment I will start an active and proactive fight for the world to know the injustice that was committed.” She declared that she would accomplish this by running for Hernández's National Party nomination.
Photo Credits: AP News
García de Hernández might run, according to Marco Eliud Girón, a legislator from the LIBRE political party, but he also claimed that she was aware of her husband's connections to drug dealers. He implied that her decision to enter politics was more motivated by a desire to lessen her personal legal risk. In November 2025, Honduras will conduct elections to select a new president to replace Xiomara Castro. To select their candidates prior to the vote, parties are required to hold primaries.