The United States government filed a lawsuit in a New York court on Tuesday, former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandezcondemn him life imprisonment for involvement in drug trafficking cases and for using weapons to protect criminal businesses.

A jury had already found Hernandez guilty in March, who, according to the indictment, between 2004 and 2022, when his second term as president ended, participated in a “corrupt and violent conspiracy” in drug trafficking facilitate the entry of hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States.

According to a document from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which represents the US government, the need for a life sentence is achieve total deterrence.

“Especially important in this case” send a message to corrupt government officials and drug traffickers around the world, the State Department says.

In addition, prosecutors asked the lead federal judge in the Southern District of New York, Kevin Castel, to reject Hernandez’s persistent arguments that he was innocent, that the government’s evidence was weak and that witnesses used (Honduran drug traffickers serve sentences in US) are not trustworthy.

Last Friday, Hernandez sent Castel a letter assuring him that His trial was “riddled with errors and injustice” and it became a “lynching” carried out by the US justice system.

Renato Stabile, lawyer for the former President of Honduras, also sent a letter to the judge asking for a 40-year prison sentence for his client and affirming his innocence.

To which the United States government responded that they were only trying to return to challenge arguments that have been rejected jurors during the trial and that they were “totally rejected.”

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“The court must I categorically reject these unfounded argumentswhich demonstrate nothing more than a break with reality and an inability to accept responsibility for their behavior,” the prosecutor’s office clarifies.

Prosecutors also urged the court to disregard Hernandez’s arguments based on his supposed “good deeds” in Honduras, including laws and initiatives aimed at combating drug trafficking, violence and corruption, in order to claim “that he is an innocent man who deserves leniency.”

Likewise, the US government recalled that other courts in the country have, since 2004, convicted many of the defendants’ co-conspirators who transported a significant amount of cocaine through Latin America until he reached US soil while he was a congressman.

“The accused played a (possibly) vital role in setting the tone from above, allowing drug trafficking and violence, as well as uncontrolled corruption“, they told the judge.

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The prosecutor’s office also emphasized that Hernandez provided protection to criminals To avoid prosecution, he covered up the violence and led a support network that gave political legitimacy to a generation of Honduran drug traffickers.

“Consequently, and for the reasons stated above, the court must reject the defendant’s arguments declaring his innocence and sentencing him to life imprisonment,” prosecutors say. (EFE)