By Larry Neumeister —
The Associated Press
The former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted this Friday on charges of conspiring with drug traffickers and using his country's national police to illegally import tons of cocaine into the United States.
The jury delivered its verdict in federal court after two weeks of a trial that has been closely followed in its home country.
Hernández, 55, served two consecutive terms as president of the Central American country of around 10 million inhabitants.
He was arrested in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, three months after leaving office in 2022 and was extradited to the United States in April of that year.
U.S. prosecutors have accused Hernández of working with drug traffickers since 2004, claiming he accepted millions of dollars in bribes as he rose from rural congressman to president of the National Congress and then to the country's highest office.
Hernández acknowledged at trial that virtually all political parties in Honduras received money from drug trafficking, but denied accepting bribes.
He noted that he had visited the White House and met with American presidents, and presented himself as a leader in the fight against drugs who was collaborating with the United States to stop the flow of substances into that country.