- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ |
US jails Honduran ex-president for 45 years on drug charges
A court in New York on Wednesday sentenced former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez to 45 years in prison after he was convicted of trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States.
Anti-Hernandez protesters gathered outside the Manhattan courthouse ahead of sentencing brandishing placards decrying the former head of state's crimes with one declaring "Narco government -- makes the people emigrate."
"The role of Mr Hernandez was to use his political power as president of Congress and president of Honduras to limit the risks of drug traffickers in exchange of money," said Judge Kevin Castel.
He said Hernandez provided police and military support and helped to send 400 tons of drugs -- worth $10 billion at market prices -- to the United States.
The sentence, which also included an $8 million fine, was less than the life imprisonment that prosecutors had sought -- although Hernandez's age, 55, means he may die behind bars.
"He's going to pursue every single possible legal remedy that he can pursue," Hernandez's lawyer Renato Stabile told reporters outside court.
- War on drugs -
Hernandez, who US federal prosecutors said turned his Central American country into a "narco-state" during his presidency from 2014 to 2022, has previously indicated through his legal team he would appeal his conviction.
He was convicted in March of having facilitated the smuggling of hundreds of tons of cocaine -- mainly from Colombia and Venezuela -- to the United States via Honduras since 2004, starting long before his presidency.
Hernandez used the drug money to enrich himself and finance his political campaign, and commit electoral fraud in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, prosecutors said.
He had presented himself as a champion of the war on drugs and was initially seen by Washington as an ally in the fight.
In 2017, the United States was one of the first countries to recognize his re-election, while the opposition denounced fraud against a backdrop of violent protests that left some 30 people dead.
He was extradited to the United States in 2022 using a law he had himself helped to pass as Congress president under pressure from Washington, accused of aiding drug smugglers in return for millions of dollars in bribes.
The fall of Hernandez, who is known in his country as "JOH," was abrupt.
No sooner had he handed over power to the new left-wing president Xiomara Castro, the outgoing leader was shackled and paraded in front of journalists.
Hernandez follows in the footsteps of other former Latin American heads of state convicted in the United States, including Panama's Manuel Noriega in 1992 and Guatemala's Alfonso Portillo in 2014.
The short, athletic leader was known for his military haircut, having served as an officer before training as a lawyer, completing a masters degree in New York in 1995.
His legal woes began in earnest in 2018 when his brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, was arrested in Miami and sentenced in March 2021 to life imprisonment for "large-scale" drug trafficking.
After his arrest in Honduras in February 2022, Hernandez said he was a victim of "revenge" by the drug lords, many of whom testified against him in New York.
X.Karnes--AMWN