For more than a decade, Juan Orlando Hernández wielded power in Honduras, first as a member of Congress, then as that body’s leader and finally as the nation’s president.
On Friday, an American jury in Federal District Court found Mr. Hernández guilty of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and of possessing and conspiring to possess “destructive devices,” including machine guns.
After the verdict was delivered, Mr. Hernández, who faces a mandatory prison term of at least 40 years and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26, rose to his feet and stood quietly with folded hands as the jurors filed from the courtroom.
During his first presidential campaign in 2013, Mr. Hernández, a member of the right-wing Honduran National Party, portrayed himself as a law-and-order candidate who could stem the epidemic of drugs and crime that had suffused the country.
Persons:
Juan Orlando Hernández, Hernández
Organizations:
Court, Honduran National Party
Locations:
Honduras, United States