New York (AFP) - An alleged associate of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez was on Tuesday sentenced by a New York judge to life in prison for drug trafficking.
Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez was also ordered to pay almost $152 million for smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States and for weapons possession.
Fuentes was found guilty in March 2021 following a two-week trial.He was convicted of three counts after a day and a half of deliberations in a Manhattan federal court.
During the trial, US prosecutors said Hernandez had helped Fuentes smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States -- an allegation the ex-president denied.
Hernandez's brother, Tony Hernandez, was sentenced to life in prison for large-scale drug trafficking last year.
Prosecutors had said he was the middle man between Fuentes and the former president, who has not been charged.
