Former Honduran President Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison on Drug Trafficking Charges

Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former President of Honduras, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $8 million for his conviction on drug trafficking charges. The jury convicted him in March after a two-week trial in Manhattan federal court. Hernandez has consistently denied the charges against him, stating "I was wrongly and unjustly accused" at his sentencing hearing. Prosecutors alleged that he ran Honduras like a "narco-state", conspiring to import cocaine into the US. Hondurans celebrated the conviction as a rare instance of accountability for corruption.