<p>The brother of Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández has been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted on drug charges.</p>.<p>Juan Antonio "Tony" Hernández, a former Honduran congressman, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday by US District Judge P Kevin Castel, who also ordered him to forfeit USD 138 million.</p>.<p>Hernández was convicted in October 2019 of charges that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 40 years in prison.</p>.<p>Assistant US Attorney Matthew Laroche told the judge that Hernández for 15 years fuelled a flood of cocaine shipments into the United States by paying millions of dollars to top Honduran officials like his brother.</p>.<p>Hernández's lawyer, Peter Brill, had argued for leniency, saying the US should focus anti-drug trafficking efforts on the voracious appetite of its citizens for drugs.</p>.<p>In court papers, prosecutors had argued for a life sentence, citing Tony Hernández's criminal history.</p>.<p>His brother served as the leader of Honduras' congress before assuming the presidency in January 2014.</p>.<p>"The defendant was a Honduran congressman who, along with his brother Juan Orlando Hernández, played a leadership role in a violent, state sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy," prosecutors wrote in court papers.</p>.<p>"Over a fifteen-year period, the defendant corrupted the democratic institutions of Honduras to enrich himself by transporting at least 185,000 kilograms of cocaine -- a staggering amount of poison that he helped import into the United States," prosecutors wrote.</p>.<p>They say he also sold weapons to drug traffickers, some of which came from Honduras' military, and controlled drug laboratories in Colombia and Honduras.</p>.<p>"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's National Party," prosecutors said.</p>.<p>They allege that among those bribes was USD 1 million from notorious Mexican capo Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán to Juan Orlando Hernández.</p>.<p>President Hernández 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.</p>.<p>In court on Tuesday, Tony 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.</p>.<p>"I feel I have been lied to," he said through a translator.</p>
<p>The brother of Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández has been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted on drug charges.</p>.<p>Juan Antonio "Tony" Hernández, a former Honduran congressman, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday by US District Judge P Kevin Castel, who also ordered him to forfeit USD 138 million.</p>.<p>Hernández was convicted in October 2019 of charges that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 40 years in prison.</p>.<p>Assistant US Attorney Matthew Laroche told the judge that Hernández for 15 years fuelled a flood of cocaine shipments into the United States by paying millions of dollars to top Honduran officials like his brother.</p>.<p>Hernández's lawyer, Peter Brill, had argued for leniency, saying the US should focus anti-drug trafficking efforts on the voracious appetite of its citizens for drugs.</p>.<p>In court papers, prosecutors had argued for a life sentence, citing Tony Hernández's criminal history.</p>.<p>His brother served as the leader of Honduras' congress before assuming the presidency in January 2014.</p>.<p>"The defendant was a Honduran congressman who, along with his brother Juan Orlando Hernández, played a leadership role in a violent, state sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy," prosecutors wrote in court papers.</p>.<p>"Over a fifteen-year period, the defendant corrupted the democratic institutions of Honduras to enrich himself by transporting at least 185,000 kilograms of cocaine -- a staggering amount of poison that he helped import into the United States," prosecutors wrote.</p>.<p>They say he also sold weapons to drug traffickers, some of which came from Honduras' military, and controlled drug laboratories in Colombia and Honduras.</p>.<p>"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's National Party," prosecutors said.</p>.<p>They allege that among those bribes was USD 1 million from notorious Mexican capo Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán to Juan Orlando Hernández.</p>.<p>President Hernández 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.</p>.<p>In court on Tuesday, Tony 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.</p>.<p>"I feel I have been lied to," he said through a translator.</p>