What Happened Today
- Juan Orlando Hernández finished testifying.
- The prosecution and defense presented their closing remarks signaling an end to the trial.
- The judge began giving instructions to the jury.
Key Details That Surfaced
- JOH’s testimony: Cross examination
- JOH testified that he told the Honduran Attorney General (AG) Oscar Chinchilla to investigate JOH but could not remember the dates. When asked if JOH remembers that Tony was mentioned by the Valles when they were arrested, he said he did not recall. JOH acknowledged that Tony Hernández was being sought out by drug traffickers and had given Tony 3-4 warnings about hanging out with drug traffickers, telling him to find a lawyer and take up matters with the DEA and U.S. prosecutors. JOH said that he told the Honduran AG to investigate Tony and if there was evidence, to proceed against him. After being pressed many times, JOH finally acknowledged that Ministers in his government told him that Tony was hanging out with drug traffickers.
- JOH said he remembered when Ramon Sabillón interviewed the Valles when they were arrested. He denied firing Sabillón and said that the Minister of Security fired him instead because of money that was missing during the Valle operation (that led to the arrest and later, extradition of the Valles).
- When asked about not allowing Alex Ardón to run as a candidate in the elections, the prosecution asked JOH why he did not do the same with Tony. JOH responded that he told Tony he could not be a candidate. He did not ask him to resign as Congressman. JOH said he could not remember if Tony worked on his electoral campaign and raised money for his campaign.
- JOH said he does not know if the Attorney General’s office seized Tony’s assets after he was arrested. When pressed for the answers, JOH said that some of Tony’s properties were seized. JOH testified that his security detail did not provide security for Tony (directly contradicting General Palacio’s statement).
- JOH denied receiving bribes from Ardón and said that Ardón is a professional liar. He said the same about witnesses Fabio Lobo, Devis Rivera, Luis Pérez, claiming that they are all “professional liars” and have motivations to lie. When asked if JOH was the only one telling the truth, he responded, “I’m telling you here that I did not receive money from them.”
- Defense questioning JOH on redirect: A picture of JOH with Ricardo Alvarez was displayed in court. JOH testified that the photo was the first photo of Alvarez and himself after competing against one another. It was taken in the Ramon Lobo’s birthday party (see yesterday’s testimony).
- Closing remarks (see below for a summary). No new information surfaced. The closing remarks tied together all the evidence from both the prosecution and defense.
What Will Happen Tomorrow
- The judge will begin at 10 am and give 30-45 minutes of instructions to the jury then he will formally hand the case to the jury for deliberation. Then, we wait for a verdict.
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Closing Remarks: Delivered by U.S. Prosecutor Jacob Gutwillig
(NOTE: The summary is paraphrasing the closing remarks based on notes written by hand in court. Please excuse any errors).
The defendant is a drug trafficker. He is a drug trafficker on a massive scale. He abused his power as the President of Honduras to “show the drugs up the noses of the gringos without them even noticing.” For years, he got away with it but now he’s here in an American courtroom to face the crimes he committed. You heard how he took bribes from drug traffickers, millions from the biggest drug traffickers and protected them with the full power of the Honduran government, military and justice system even while they sent cocaine into the United States. This is why we are here today.
The defendant protected people that kept him in power – Alex Ardón, Hugo Ardón, Tony Hernández, Geovany Fuentes Ramírez, President Porfirio Lobo and his son, Fabio Lobo. None were arrested in Honduras or extradited if they stayed quiet. They were untouchable in Honduras. They were involved trafficking drugs for years, all with the defendant’s protection – no cocaine was seized, there were no arrests, and they had no fear of either. The defendant did this by claiming that he was hard on crime. It was a big show. He did it here by trying to sell you the same plot today and yesterday, under oath.
The defendant told us that no one is above the law but this includes him. The drug traffickers he stood up to were the ones that threatened to expose him but behind closed doors, he protected others as they drove load after load of cocaine to the U.S.
The defendant said that he was cracking down on drug trafficking – but this is not true. The real defendant, based on what the evidence showed, was at the center of the largest drug trafficking conspiracy in the world.
Let’s look at some context and consider the evidence. It shows that drug trafficking took place while using guns. The evidence has shown that 1) A lot more than just 5 kg of cocaine was trafficked, and 2) that weapons were used to protect the cocaine, including evidence that the police and military protected the cocaine.
But for now, please keep this in mind: JOH’s participation in the drug trafficking conspiracy makes him guilty. The evidence shows that the defendant is guilty and beyond a reasonable doubt.
Witnesses
We heard from witnesses – 3 separate witnesses – Alex Ardón, Fabio Lobo and José Sánchez. Ardón provided bribes to the defendant with drug trafficking money. Fabio Lobo gave a personal look as the defendant succeeded his father in Congress and in the Presidency. Sánchez described how the defendant partnered with a violent drug trafficker. And there were other witnesses including one from the Sinaloa cartel, a member of the National Police, and Leonel Rivera.
These witnesses told you how the conspiracy worked. You saw the evidence. The defense is going to say that there are no recordings or bank statements. But you saw MS-13 calls and drug ledgers. The MS-13 calls describe gifting drug routes, bribes, and assigning an elite police team to kill those that threatened to expose the defendant.
JOH’s testimony
You heard from the defendant. But the defense has no burden of proof. The burden of proof is on the government. We ask you to use your common sense like the judge will tell you. Do the same thing with the defendant’s testimony – treat him like any other witness. He confirmed what others said:
- Ardón knew drug traffickers;
- The defendant knew that Tony Hernandez was hanging out with drug traffickers;
- He went to visit Fuad Jarufe;
- Hilda Hernández was involved in his political campaign;
- He attended a birthday party in Colón;
- And he said that all politicians receive bribes.
But these are half truths – the other half was explained by other witnesses. Ask yourself if the defendant’s testimony holds up because a half truth is a lie.
Let’s step back and talk about the crimes committed against the United States. Look at the drug routes to Honduras which is a critical point on route to the U.S. Honduras is a small country. Transporting drugs to the U.S. is lucrative. It arrives to Honduras by air, land, and by sea and then is taken across the country. Of course the defendant knew this, he was the President and under his leadership, Honduras became a springboard. Cocaine trafficking was a big business.
The evidence shows three things, 1) That the defendant agreed to send cocaine to the United States, 2) Weapons were used to do that, 3) He protected his partners and used weapons. Ardón became a partner – he was elected to political office. He partnered with the Sinaloa cartel. Fabio Lobo was driving in a motorcade transporting drugs while the defendant was President. Geovany Fuentes Ramírez was working in a cocaine lab. These were his partners.
Alex Ardón
Alex Ardón was a drug trafficker and a mayor. He worked with the Sinaloa cartel. When it became too obvious, the defendant told him to not run again but he still received protection. That’s what made him one of the most successful drug traffickers. From approximately 2000, he trafficked hundreds of tonnes of cocaine. He used AK 47s, AR15s, and bazookas. He explained in detail how he was protected. He met with the defendant in approximately 2009 when the defendant was running for the National Congress. The defendant protected Ardón, gave his brother a job in government and facilitated his drug trafficking. In turn, Ardón gave him approx. $1 million.
As the defendant got more more powerful so did Ardón. He became a narco-politician because of the protection he received from the defendant. He got more powerful and started to work with ‘El Chapo’ along with Tony Hernández and Mauricio Hernández Pineda (MHP). MHP told Geovany Rodríguez that he was protected by the defendant and he gave the same warning to Ardón when he told him not to surrender. Ardón was so connected to the defendant that El Chapo gave $1 million to his campaign.
Remember what Luis Pérez said? He said where the $1 million came from and discussed it with the Valles and gave them instructions to deliver the money. Both Pérez and Ardón’s testimony match up. In total, Pérez gave $2.4 million for the Presidential campaigns and in 2014-2015 during the defendant’s first term, Pérez said it was the best year he had for selling drugs.
That’s how that happened, take a moment to think about it. This is not just a story of a crooked politician. The evidence shows more. He was a leader that joined forces with the leader of the Sinaloa cartel and El Chapo.
Just to finish summing up Ardón’s testimony, Ardón talked about the poverty in Honduras and building dirt roads. Ardón was a mayor but the defendant was the President. He built a super highway for cocaine to travel to the U.S. and protected it with weapons.
But you could find the defendant guilty just based on Fabio Lobo’s testimony.
Fabio Lobo
Fabio was different than Ardón. He was in a position of privilege. Fabio leveraged his contacts to traffic being the son of a former President. He testified against his father’s successor. He understood the defendant like no one else.
He met the defendant two decades ago. He was there. Here is a picture of Fabio Lobo in the Presidential palace with Porfirio Lobo and Javier Rivera, the leader of the Cachiros standing shoulder to shoulder (the prosecution displays the photo with a group of men in the Presidential palace). Fabio Lobo had a personal relationship with the defendant. He went to a meeting at the El Patio restaurant with the defendant and a Colombian drug trafficker named ‘El Cinco’ to discuss mechandise on a plane that Fabio Lobo would get a call about days later. After that, the defendant asked him to be discreet. This is something you will hear the defendant say a lot.
Fabio told us about a meeting in Puerto Cortés, located close to Geovany Fuentes Ramírez’s drug lab. He worked with a cartel that gave the defendant money for his campaign. Pérez was there and described two payments in exchange for shipments of cocaine. Both testimonies coincide and describe the same thing.
Fabio described giving Hilda Hernández $200,000 for the defendant’s campaign. This was one of two bribes given through Hilda Hernández. One was from Fabio Lobo for $200,000 and the other from Javier Rivera for $250,000. Fabio Lobo described the millions of dollars he saw in a duffel bag. He told you in detail about the gas station. He saw Wilson, the same person known as Nery Sanabria/Magdaleno Meza. Remember the drug ledgers that were seized? These had the defendant’s initials reflecting payments to him.
Back to Fabio Lobo: He told you how big that bag was. Just like the money that was found in pictures on Tony Hernández’s phone.
Fabio Lobo said it was $4 million. Flash forward – you heard that about the same bribe on an intercepted call in 2015. Alexander Mendoza, the leader of the MS-13, was talking about the defendant’s business. “the Valles gave him $5 million ..” (displayed text of audio file on screen in the court). It’s not important whether it was $4-5 million. What is important is that he received the money from drug traffickers.
Tony Hernández
He is one of the defendant’s principle co-conspirators. He was a big drug trafficker. He worked with Ardón and the Cachiros and played a supporting role. But he was not the main character. He was a big drug trafficker because of the defendant’s power. That’s what got him to be a Congressman – same as Fabio Lobo through his father’s power. That is how the defendant got cocaine with his little brother’s initials ‘TH’ when sending cocaine to the Sinaloa cartel. The defendant protected Tony and made him a Congressman. That’s why Tony was checking with Palacios [one of the military generals that took the stand for the defense] to see if he could go to the U.S.. He knew that he was safe in Honduras but knew he did not have the same protection here in the U.S. and so he tried to figure out if he was safe in the U.S. As the defendant said himself, “Tony was not careful enough.”
Fabio Lobo was politically connected. He had contacts with Los Cachiros to transport with his security detail. He used trucks carrying weapons. When it was a small load, roughly $40,000/piece, it was usually accompanied by 30-40 people. The defendant knew this. When Fabio Lobo needed protection, he went to Julian Pacheco Tinoco to get information to guard the drugs. Fabio was not careful – “be discreet” is what the defendant told him, don’t get caught. If Fabio was discreet, there was no problem for the defendant and he would keep protecting him. In August 2015, Fabio sent a message to the Cachiros talking about ‘JO’ referring to the defendant.
The defense will say a lot about extradition. But remember, Fabio Lobo made money by escorting drugs armed with machine guns. He talked about never having any drugs seized and having protection from the defendant in 2014. And the defendant knew, how could he not? He had nothing to do with Fabio’s arrest, Fabio was not extradited to the U.S. and when he left the umbrella of the defendant’s protection in Honduras, that’s when he got arrested.
We are NOT asking you to be in agreement with the witnesses that we presented. We told you this at the beginning. It’s hard to image all the violence that Ardon was involved in. Fabio Lobo and the defendant took advantage to wrap them with protection and used the power of the state to protect him. We do not approve of what they have done. They were there when the defendant was driving his wife’s car to Congress and then the defendant went, years later, to having millions of dollars in duffel bags.
The defendant called the witnesses “professional liars” but they were “professional drug traffickers” and the defendant was a politician too – a crooked one.
Jose Sanchez
You do not have to like Ardón or Fabio Lobo. There is a third witness that did not murder anyone and was not a drug trafficker. If you believe José Sánchez, the defendant could be found guilty on just his testimony. Sanchez described two private meetings between the defendant and Geovany Fuentes Ramírez, a violent drug trafficker that he protected. The defendant gave Geovany Tony’s phone number and said that Tony was at Geovany’s disposal. The defendant said in front of Sanchez that he would shove the drugs up the noses of the gringos without them realizing it.
In the first meeting, Geovany Fuentes Ramirez gave the defendant $50,000. In the second, $10,000 but that gave the defendant access to a cocaine lab close to Puerto Corés where Fabio Lobo said he would receive drug shipments. That’s what the defendant meant when he went to Graneros Nacionales to check rice prices. You saw how Sánchez described the office, he described the scene in detail. So did the defendant in his own words.
The defendant went to Graneros Nacionales to exchange drug money. He was scared for a good reason. Sánchez gave the videos of the meetings to two people and he told you what happened to them – they were murdered.
- Marlene Banegas. She delivered the video to Attorney General Chinchilla and one month later, she was murdered.
- Cristian Ayala. He was murdered when arriving to his home shortly after.
Both were murdered because they had evidence about the defendant and after the meeting with Geovany, Sánchez found a box with military supplies in his boss’s office. And remember the green rifle that Geovany got from his military friends after he met with the defendant and got protection.
You not only have Jose Sanchez’s testimony, you also have electronic communication from Geovany’s son. They talked about the gun, “dude, how do they know about the green rifle?” The ‘they’ were referring to, is us. How did we find out?
They also said ‘Juancho is CC4’. The defendant, all these years later, was mentioned in private communications. Geovany and the defendant worked together for years, from 2013 to 2019. And despite this, years later, Geovany Fuentes was not arrested. Data shows him visiting the Presidential palace, the day after the defendant was identified for the first time as CC-4. The defendant could not explain on the stand why the dates coincided – June 12 and 13th are just days apart.
Geovany Fuentes had the defendant’s number and a picture with the defendant and his children on his phone. It was not just a photo opp, it’s the defendant with his drug trafficking partners. But today, the defendant said that he never met with the Geovany Fuentes.
Sanchez is not a cooperating witness. He fled Honduras. And the electronic data backs up his testimony. José Sánchez’s testimony is backed up by Leonel Rivera, who told you everything. And you do not have to approve of Leonel Rivera, you just have to decide what he said is true.
Leonel Rivera
Juan Sanchez and Rivera, a drug trafficker, said many of the same things. Sanchez talked about the cocaine lab in Cerro Negro. Rivera said the same thing. Sanchez saw Geovany Fuentes Ramirez with military grade weapons, and Rivera saw the same thing. But Sanchez and Rivera would not be expected to have a lot in common. Sanchez talked about the defendant bringing money to Graneros Nacionales. Rivera gave another side of the story, from the perspective of a drug trafficker. The defendant sent Julio Barahona to clean up the mess of the drug lab run by Geovany Fuentes. Rivera also talked about kidnapping and torturing the police officer responsible for raiding the drug lab. He tortured him until he was satisfied then shot him in the head. This is how you draw a straight line to the protection given by the defendant. He used violence because he was a drug trafficker.
Remember Geovany Fuentes Ramirez who tortured the cop? He had MS-13 gang members guarding his lab. He was the defendant’s partner. He was never arrested and never extradited. He was arrested in Miami.
Leonel Rivera gave another side of the story about Geovany Fuentes Ramírez. He told you about the Valles, the Cachiros, the birthday party and said exactly what he did with the drug money. He gave $250,000 to the defendant, $50,000 to Tony Hernández, and $800,000 to the defendant’s allies.
JOH Trying To Stay In Power
All the witness testimonies can be corroborated. All of this is corroborated by other evidence in this case. When the defendant became President in the November 2013 elections, like he said, “where there is a will, there’s a way.” He had the support for the way – drug money.
When in office, the defendant tried to stay in power. Think about Ardón and Urbina, both drug traffickers and partners. But they both made different choices. Ardón got out of politics and Urbina got a warning. Remember the recording, Urbina said “there is no problem if there is discretion.” Ardon stayed in the defendant’s good graces. Urbina got arrested because he did not listen. The defendant was the President for most of these years they were operating. In a small country of approximately 10 million people and operated for years in impunity.
Valles
I want to say a few words about the Valles. In 2014, when the defendant became President, the Valles were extradited. Urbina was arrested. Remember the facts, some drug traffickers were supported and others were not.
In 2010, the Valles were partners with Juan Orlando (the prosecution displayed the picture of JOH with Arnulfo Valle and others at the World Cup). In 2010, they showed this picture to Leonel Rivera. Maybe the defendant took a lot of pictures at the World Cup, but with the Valles? They were massive drug traffickers and they gave the defendant money in exchange for protection.
When the Valles started making death threats to mayors, this was bad for business. The defendant began seizing and the Valles did not hold up their end of the bargain. So the defendant acted. In response, the drug traffickers, the Valles, turned to violence and tried to kill the defendant. But they did not co-invest in properties together. They were drug traffickers. They bribed the defendant with drug money and when things went bad, they reacted as they would as politicians and drug traffickers. The defendant used his power and the state. And the Valles used drug trafficking and violence. Then they were extradited.
The defendant did this to show them how the business works. Ardón obeyed the rules, and the Valles did not.
El Porky & the Audios
Let’s talk about El Porky (displays photo of El Porky). El Porky talked about how the business worked. You heard from his girlfriend. The MS-13 worked with the Valles, the Cachiros and got protection from El Tigre Bonilla. Porky was the leader of the MS-13. These are the messages that were presented as evidence:
- In June 2015, El Porky wrote “I doubt they will last long in power …” in an intercepted call. He was referring to the defendant not surviving until June and in turn, shared the defendant’s involvement in the conspiracy. This is devastating proof of guilt.
- On June 5, 2015, “It appears that Don H gave $6 million …” and Wilson is mentioned in the message. Then Porky said that the Americans know and that the defendant could not help Don H much because he would be detected. The defendant extradited the drug traffickers he did not care about and protected the ones he did.
- In another message, El Porky said “they are searching for Byron Ruíz…” and talked about an elite police team because Ruíz was inconvenient for the defendant especially if the Americans arrested him. This was in 2015. They were trying to kill Byron Ruíz. Years later in 2020, in a conversation between Geovany Fuentes Ramirez and Comanche, Geovany was talking about the same elite police team to kill Ruíz and that the defendant had betrayed him. This was five years after the call with El Porky. Then Geovany Fuentes wrote. “This is going to be a disaster.” The disaster that he was referring to was the defendant being exposed.
- On September 29, 2015, El Porky was talking about a route that the President had given as part of a deal. El Porky, the leader of the MS-13 was saying that the defendant gave [someone] a drug route. The defendant did not just allow drug trafficking, he controlled it. But it came with conditions, you had to correctly play “cat and mouse” as El Porky said.
These are the years of the defendant’s crimes. Years of drug trafficking. This was the government’s case.
You heard from the defense about all these meetings, laws, the things that the defendant did in public. But remember, none of that undoes his drug trafficking. For years and years, think about what he was doing in private. None of the things he did in private change a thing about the fact that the defendant was at the center of a conspiracy.
The Drug Ledgers
Now that you have the backdrop, let’s talk about a specific day during the defendant’s second term: June 6, 2018, when Magdaleno Meza was arrested. Detective Reynosa was there that day. He testified about the ledgers in the car and next to them, there was $200,000 and grenades. Magdaleno Meza had a drug lab. Rivera knew him as ‘Wilson’ too, so did Fabio Lobo. Rivera told you that he spoke to Wilson about receiving drug shipments to La Moskitia. He told you what Nava airplanes are, it’s in the drug ledgers.
(The prosecutors displayed one page of the ledgers with the letters ‘NAVA’ in the corner).
Tony Hernandez and the defendant’s names were all over the drug ledgers. That is not a coincidence and there is Meza in the picture with guns (shows picture of Meza being arrested). Fabio Lobo identified him as going to the gas station with the duffel bag in 2015. This happened five years before Detective Reynoso found the drug ledgers and years of drug trafficking. You know the initials for Tony Hernández and the defendant. We heard about them from multiple witnesses.
The ledgers are consistent with all other evidence in this case: Testimonies from Sanchez, Ardon, the Sinaloa cartel, Geovany Fuentes, Devis Rivera, the calls, the electronic communications, the drug ledgers, photos of firearms and money, and contact information.
This is the evidence. This proves that the defendant is guilty. Now I am just going to speak about the charges.
Charges
Count one is drug trafficking conspiracy. There are three ways to be part of the conspiracy. 1) To be in agreement to a) Import cocaine, b) Distribute knowing it will be imported, c) distribute using U.S. registered aircraft. 2) The defendant knowingly and intentionally joined the conspiracy, 3) Special interrogatory: The conspiracy involved more than 5 kilograms of narcotics.
With a conspiracy, you do not need a contract to show that one exists.
Count two: Weapons charge. Involves: 1) Commissioned a drug trafficking crime (count one), 2) Possession of a weapon in furtherance of the crime, 3) Special interrogatory: The crime involved a machine gun or destructive device.
Count three: Weapons conspiracy.
The defendant thought that he had everyone fooled and hide behind extradition, passing laws, and making speeches about fighting crime. All while providing protection to drug traffickers that were close to him and protecting them while trafficking cocaine into the U.S. to ravage their country with corruption and violence.
There is sweeping evidence about the defendant’s drug trafficking, corruption, and violence. A reasonable doubt here is to decide whether the defendant committed the crimes against the U.S. and sent cocaine here protected by weapons.
“The defendant was the President of Honduras but in the end, he’s just a drug dealer who sent massive amounts of cocaine to this country. Hold him accountable, find him guilty.”