Honduran President’s Brother Sentenced to Life in Prison in US for Drug Trafficking
NEW YORK—Tony Hernandez, a former Honduran congressman and brother of the sitting president, was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for drugtrafficking by a U.S. judge on Tuesday.
Hernandez, 42, was convicted on the drug charges and related weapons charges in October 2019. Hernandez will also be forced to pay $138.5 million in forfeiture, which prosecutors in their sentencing memo wrote was “blood money” from drug trafficking.
“This is state-sponsored drug trafficking and this is exactly the type of conduct the government should be targeting, because of the impact it has on Honduras,” U.S. prosecutor Matthew Laroche said. “Honduras is one of the principal drug transhipment places in the world and one of the most violent places in the world.”