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<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#544a4a"><strong>Juan Antonio &#8216;Tony&#8217; Hernández, the brother of Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, was sentenced to life in prison by a New York federal court Tuesday </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#544a4a"><strong>Tony&#8217; Hernández, a politician like his brother was described by prosecutore linchpin of &#8216;the world&#8217;s largest and most violent&#8217; drug trafficking ring </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#544a4a"><strong>The former congressman was convicted of trafficking 185 tons of cocaine, weapons charges and making false statements in Oct. 2019</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#544a4a"><strong>He reportedly received bribes for government officials in Honduras, including $1 million from Joaquín &#8216;El Chapo&#8217; Guzmán that was forwarded to his brother </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#544a4a"><strong>Under the cover of his privileged position, &#8216;between 2004 and 2019, [Tony Hernandez], secured and distributed millions of dollars in drug-derived bribes to [President] Juan Orlando Hernández, former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and other politicians associated with Honduras&#8217; National Party,&#8217; prosecutors said </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#544a4a"><strong>The judge ordered Juan Antonio Hernández to turn over $138 million </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#544a4a"><strong>Hernandez served as a member of the Honduran Congress from 2014 until he was arrested at a Miami airport in November 2018</strong><br></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://i1.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Juan-Antonio-Tony-Hern%C3%A1ndez-1.jpg?resize=620%2C372&;ssl=1" alt="Juan Antonio 'Tony' Hernández 1" width="847" height="508"/><figcaption><strong>Juan Antonio &#8216;Tony&#8217; Hernández, the brother of Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal court in New York on Tuesday after his 2019 conviction for cocaine and weapons trafficking, as well as, making false-statements offenses </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>Honduras politician Juan Antonio Hernández was sentenced to life in prison by a New York federal court on Tuesday, March 31. The politcian&#8217;s case is the more significant because he is the brother to President Juan Orlando Hernández.<br>Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Laroche exposed Juan Antonio &#8216;Tony&#8217; Hernández in the trial as the nucleus in one of the world&#8217;s largest and most violent drug conspiracies. <br>The former Honduran congressman was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel, who also ordered him to forfeit $138 million.<br>Hernández was <a href="https://konniemoments.com/2019/10/19/president-juan-orlando-hernandez-enabled-his-brothers-trafficking-juan-antonio-tony-hernandez-brother-of-honduras-president-found-guilty-in-vast-drug-conspiracy-case/">convicted on October 29, 2019 </a>of cocaine trafficking, weapons, and false-statements offenses charges that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 40 years in prison.<br>In a tweet, President Juan Orlando Hernández accused the Drug Enforcement Administration of fabricating the evidence that was used to send his sibling to jail.<br>&#8216;For the entire family, the news expected from NY will be painful,&#8217; the Honduran leader wrote. &#8216;And what else can be said about a trial where the testimony of the prosecutors&#8217; principal &#8216;cooperator&#8217; has now been exposed by the DEA&#8217;s own secret recordings as a lie?&#8217; </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Face-of-Honduras-President-Juan-Orlando-Hernandez-wrapped-by-the-shackles-holding-his-brother-Juan-Antonio-Tony-Hernandez-1.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Face-of-Honduras-President-Juan-Orlando-Hernandez-wrapped-by-the-shackles-holding-his-brother-Juan-Antonio-Tony-Hernandez-1.jpg" width="841" height="513"/><figcaption><strong>Poster held up by demonstrators outside the U.S. Federal Court, in NY shows the face of Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández wrappe</strong>d<strong> by the shackles holding his brother Juan Antonio &#8216;Tony&#8217; Hernández who received a life sentence for weapons and drug trafficking on Tuesday </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>Laroche said Juan Antonio Hernandez was the &#8216;central figure in one of the largest and most violent cocaine conspiracies in the world&#8217; and added that for 15 years he was responsible for fueling a flood of cocaine shipments into the United States by paying millions of dollars to top Honduran officials like his brother. <br>Juan Antonio &#8216;Tony&#8217; Hernández, who was convicted two years ago and has remained in custody since, received a life sentence for a drug trafficking, weapons and false statement conviction and was instructed to pay back $138 million<br><strong>Related Articles:</strong> </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://konniemoments.com/2019/10/19/president-juan-orlando-hernandez-enabled-his-brothers-trafficking-juan-antonio-tony-hernandez-brother-of-honduras-president-found-guilty-in-vast-drug-conspiracy-case/"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Juan-Antonio-Tony-Hern%C3%A1ndez-2.jpg?resize=174%2C131&;ssl=1" alt=""/></a></figure>



<p><a href="https://konniemoments.com/2019/10/19/president-juan-orlando-hernandez-enabled-his-brothers-trafficking-juan-antonio-tony-hernandez-brother-of-honduras-president-found-guilty-in-vast-drug-conspiracy-case/">US court finds Honduras politician, Antonio “Tony” Hernández, the president’s brother, GUILTY in vast drug conspiracy case He was convicted of drug conspiracy, [&#8230;]</a></p>



<p>According to Laroche, Hernandez&#8217;s actions had turned Honduras into one of the most dangerous places in the world. Hernandez, he added, turned to drug dealing even though he grew up well off. <br>He said Hernandez &#8216;can&#8217;t point to poverty, lack of opportunities or a need to support his family.&#8217;<br>&#8216;He did it because he was greedy,&#8217; the prosecutor said, adding that Hernandez has shown no remorse.<br>Hernández&#8217;s lawyer, Peter Brill, had argued for leniency and mercy for his client, saying the U.S. should focus anti-drug trafficking efforts on the &#8216;voracious appetite&#8217; of its citizens for drugs.<br>Brill said Hernández &#8216;feels that the witnesses who testified against him were not only self motivated but were motivated against him &#8230; to make up as much as they could to ruin his life and the life of his family and have succeeded in doing so.&#8217;<br>In court papers, prosecutors had argued for a life sentence, citing his criminal history and saying he had transported at least 185,000 kilograms of cocaine, &#8216;a staggering amount of poison that he helped import into the United States.&#8217;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Juan-Orlando-Hernandez-1.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Juan-Orlando-Hernandez-1.jpg" width="845" height="571"/><figcaption><strong>Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández [photo], who disparaged the DEA, said that the life sentence that was given to his brother, Tony Hernández, was unfair because the testimony of the prosecutors&#8217; principal &#8216;cooperator&#8217; has now been exposed by the agency&#8217;s own secret recordings as a lie?&#8217;</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>They say Juan Antonio Hernández also sold weapons to drug traffickers, some of which came from Honduras´ military, and controlled drug laboratories in Colombia and Honduras.<br>&#8216;Between 2004 and 2019, the defendant secured and distributed millions of dollars in drug-derived bribes to Juan Orlando Hernández, former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and other politicians associated with Honduras&#8217; National Party,&#8217; prosecutors wrote.<br>&#8216;Exploiting a high-ranking position in government to wield the power of the state to support drug trafficking is as nefarious as it comes,&#8217; DEA Special Agent in Charge Wendy C. Woolcock said in a statement. Adding that &#8216;The conviction and sentencing of Tony Hernandez is a reminder there is no position powerful enough to shield you from facing justice when you violate U.S. drug laws by sending tons of cocaine to our country.&#8217;<br>His brother served as the leader of the Honduran congress before assuming the presidency in January 2014. <br>Prosecutors allege that among those bribes was $1 million from notorious Mexican capo Joaquín &#8216;El Chapo&#8217; Guzmán to Juan Orlando Hernández.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Supporters-of-Justice-for-Honduras-outside-Manhattan-federal-court-NY-on-March-31-2021-1.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Supporters-of-Justice-for-Honduras-outside-Manhattan-federal-court-NY-on-March-31-2021-1.jpg" width="836" height="541"/><figcaption>Supporters of Justice for Honduras outside Manhattan federal court, NY, on March 31, 2021. Former Honduran congressman Juan Antonio &#8216;Tony&#8217; Hernández, brother of the Honduran President Juan Orland Hernández, was sentenced to life in prison by the court on Tuesday</figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Juan-Orlando-Hern%C3%A1ndez-1.jpg?resize=620%2C357&;ssl=1" alt="Juan Orlando Hernández 1" width="844" height="486"/><figcaption><strong>President Juan Orlando Hernández has been mentioned as a co-conspirator as part of his brother&#8217;s criminal offenses, but has not been charged by the US court, but he has repeatedly denied any ties to drug traffickers</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>President Hernández has been mentioned as a co-conspirator as part of his brother&#8217;s criminal offenses, but has not been charged by the United States. However, he has repeatedly denied any ties to drug traffickers, as has Lobo, whose son is currently serving a 24-year drug trafficking sentence in the U.S.<br>In an audio recording sent to his staff, which AP obtained, the president said his brother&#8217;s conviction &#8216;is hard for the family, hard for me personally.&#8217;<br>Highlighting his anti-crime crusade in his country, Hernandez said, &#8216;I find it outrageous, I find it unbelievable that false testimony by confessed killers could have been heard and given weight in this way,&#8217; citing progress in reducing violence in the country as evidence of his stance against organized crime.<br>In court on Tuesday, Juan Antonio Hernández looked pale and downcast. When the defendant was given a chance to speak, he complained about his lawyers, saying he hardly saw them and they barely responded to his emails.<br>&#8216;I feel I have been lied to,&#8217; he said through a translator.<br>As Hernandez was led from the courtroom, a spectator yelled out: &#8216;Criminal! Just like your brother!&#8217;<br>Outside the courthouse, about 80 people with signs critical of the president of Honduras loudly protested. <br>Hernandez served as a member of the Honduran Congress from 2014 to 2018. He was arrested at a Miami airport in November 2018. </p>

Honduras politician and brother of country’s president is sentenced to life in prison in NY – court orders Juan Antonio Hernández, the linchpin of ‘the world’s largest and most violent’ drug trafficking ring, to turn over $138M
