What Happened Today
- Opening remarks (by both the prosecution and defense) (see a detailed summary of the opening remarks below).
- Two government witnesses testified: A Honduran accountant, José Sánchez (a pseudonym) and cooperating witness Alexander Soriano Ardón, the former mayor of El Paraíso, Copán.
Key Details that Surfaced
- Former Attorney General (AG) Oscar Chinchilla was mentioned. Sánchez mentioned that he gave audio or video evidence of JOH’s meetings with Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez (now a convicted drug trafficker) and Sánchez’s boss, Fuad Jarufe (deceased), to Honduran prosecutor, Marlene Banegas. Sánchez said today that Banegas told him that she gave the evidence to then Honduran Attorney General, Oscar Chinchilla and two months later, Banegas was killed.
- The Honduran military and police were mentioned several times for their involvement in protecting drug shipments and drug traffickers.
What Will Happen Tomorrow
- Cooperating witness and confessed drug trafficker, Alexander Soriano Ardón will continue to testify.
- The prosecution will call more witnesses.
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More Details
NOTE: I try my best to correct errors and ensure the most accurate information as possible before posting these notes. Please excuse any typos and know that the notes are scribbled by hand in court and then transcribed.
Opening Remarks
For the prosecution, David Robles:
“This is a case about power, corruption, massive amounts of cocaine, about a man that stood at the centre of all, the former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, the defendant. For years, he worked with the largest, most violent drug traffickers in Honduras and sent tons of cocaine to the United States. Traffickers fueled his rise to power with billions of dollars. In return, he abused his power, the police, military, and justice system to protect that power. Because he did this, he is being charged. That is why we are here.
I am going to talk about: 1) What evidence we will show; 2) How the government will show he is guilty.
Honduras sits at a crucial location of the international cocaine trade. Most of the cocaine produced in the United States is produced in South America, moves through Central America, like in Honduras. Honduras is a country that cocaine is transported through. Cocaine that passes through there, ends up in the U.S. It causes violence and leaves corruption in its wake. It’s a lucrative, dangerous business.
Drug traffickers spent a lot of money bribing people in Honduras to transport drugs – police, military, and people that were willing to abuse their positions for their own gain.
Juan Orlando Hernandez was a Congressional representative that rose to the top of the Honduran government. How? Drug traffickers bank-rolled his political campaigns with millions of dollars. Violent drug traffickers did this, like his brother, Tony Hernández. Drug traffickers murdered their rivals and used heavy weapons. They bought votes, took over polling stations, bribed politicians and worked with the Sinaloa cartel that contributed millions to their campaigns, and worked with the MS-13, a violent gang to conduct their drug trafficking.
This relationship fueled the rise to power of the defendant from 2010 to 2022. The defendant held two powerful positions in Honduras – the President of Congress and President. He abused these positions. He used the military and police to protect shipments of cocaine, protected them from arrest, and extradition to the U.S. to face criminal charges. Protection that allowed drug traffickers to traffic cocaine.
This partnership worked so well because of JOH’s powerful position. And at the same time, he had to maintain a public position of toughness and legitimacy, like passing laws. But behind the scenes, he was protecting drug traffickers and trafficking cocaine.
The evidence will show that. The defendant spent years doing that and used weapons to commit these crimes.
There are two types of evidence in this case, 1) Testimony, 2) Documents – electronic, emails, and calls. You will hear from:
- An accountant that witnessed meetings with JOH and violent drug traffickers and how he promised protection from the police and military. And he bragged that he would “shove the drugs right up the nose of the gringos.”
- Expert witnesses to contextualize the case – DEA agent that will describe cocaine, the price in the U.S. and its profits along the way;
- An expert about machine guns;
- We will also hear from the largest, most violent drug traffickers – JOH’s own associates. They will provide one of the most unique perspectives in the world. Such as:
- A former mayor who shipped massive amounts of cocaine with Tony Hernández and how he helped buy votes.
- Former members of the Sinaloa cartel that contributed millions to JOH’s campaign and how military and police protected trucks filled with cocaine as it moved to the U.S.
- A witness will describe how important it was to have JOH’s support.
These witnesses have committed horrible crimes. They entered into agreements with the government. They have committed violent crimes, but these are the people that JOH decided to work with. Only people he worked with, can tell you how the defendant committed his crimes.
You won’t approve of these people, but the question is whether you believe their testimony.
You will also see:
- Testimony of law enforcement
- Notebooks used by drug traffickers.
- Payments that JOH made to them.
- Contact lists – drug traffickers had JOH’s number because he was available to them.
- Pictures of cocaine, guns, and the defendant himself arm-to-arm with notorious drug traffickers and corrupt officials.
Evidence in the trial will involve corruption, cocaine, and violence. At the heart of the drug conspiracy was JOH, who abused his power for years to traffic drugs.
At the end, we will speak to you again after the evidence is presented.
We ask you to remember three things throughout the trial:
- Pay close attention to the evidence.
- Follow Judge Castel’s instructions.
- Use your common sense.
And you will find that JOH is guilty of the crimes he is accused”. END.
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For the defense, Renato Stabile:
(Stabile displayed a PowerPoint presentation).
““Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” That was written by Shakespeare in The Tempest, and I promise you, in this case, all devils will be here in this courtroom.
You will hear from government witnesses that have killed so many people. The number is so high that if you look around the courtroom, the number of people they have killed is more than all that are sitting here. When they get up on the stand, think about that.
Some have killed 78 people; they are facing life. Others 56. Some have tortured and killed children. These are depraved people, psychos, and people not willing of your trust. When the government comes to you to declare this man, Juan Orlando Hernández, guilty, please remember what they are and what these witnesses have done.
My name is Renato Stabile and Mr. Colon and I, represent Juan Orlando Hernandez. In the next few minutes, I will discuss what the evidence in this trial will show and then, what it won’t show.
Who is Juan Orlando Hernandez? He was the President of Honduras, and the President of Congress. He has a Masters degree from Suny, Albany. He has a JD from a university in Honduras. He is married, has four children, and he is one of 17 siblings from a small town in Gracias, Honduras.
In 2013, Honduras was the murder capital of the world. There is no dispute about this. It has a population of approximately 10 million people, like the population of NYC. But it had dozens of murders per day. 80% of the drugs from South America landed in Honduras. Honduras is beautiful. It has the Caribbean on one side. It should be a tourist destination but there was so much violence.
JOH ran for President because he wanted to deal with the violence. As President, drug trafficking was reduced, violence went down, and people were going to jail, and people started to get extradited. Under JOH, the murder rate went down. 80% of drugs passing through Honduras was reduced.
How did JOH do it? He didn’t take bribes. He did not sit down with drug traffickers. Instead, he stood up to them. And they wanted to murder him for that.
What did he do to achieve this? I will go through the evidence about the steps he took and the man that enacted important laws. You will see all the bills he passed, how he froze assets, reformed police forces, created task forces, and worked with the U.S. State Department, Treasury, the Justice Department, the DEA, etc. He worked with them to take down these drug traffickers.
The government says this is all smoke and mirrors and its fake. The evidence is not fake. The legal standard in this case is that they must show beyond a reasonable doubt. Even if it gets up to the line of reasonable doubt – the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
What did he do? He extradited people to the U.S., major drug traffickers from Honduras. The U.S. asked Honduras to extradite 24 drug traffickers and he agreed to every single case. Out of 24 extradited, 21 were arrested. Some fled from Honduras into the arms of the United States and cut deals.
The evidence will show it, and most importantly, pay attention to what it doesn’t show.
There are no recordings of JOH with drug traffickers, no text messages with drug traffickers; no emails; no bank records of money going into his account; and no signs of wealth. You will see witnesses in the courtroom who have cut a deal with the government.
[Put pictures of drug traffickers, amount of cocaine, murders committed on the screen].
You will see Leonel Maradiaga Rivera – 78 murders, 130 kilos of cocaine. Javier Rivera – 48 murders, 130,000 kilos of cocaine, etc. etc.
The government will show you evidence about people talking about JOH. But he was the President, not just some random person. Some texts will refer to JOH, some are hard to understand. It will be like a giant game of telephone. Is it gossip what they are saying? Or real information?
There will be lots of photos of drugs, weapons, photos of JOH with people. You will see lots of pictures of different people. Photos from public events with people.
You will see a brick of cocaine with ‘TH’ on it. The witness will say that ‘TH’ is Tony Hernández. But you should know that drug traffickers will stamp their cocaine with brands with names like Gucci, Prada, etc. etc.
You will see machine guns with JOH’s name and title. This will be presented as evidence in this case. You won’t hear that he uses it or runs on the streets using machine guns.
You’re going to hear a lot about how witness cooperation works. This happens when:
- A proffer: This is an audition. It’s when drug traffickers meet with the government multiple times. If the government likes what they hear, they give them ->
- A cooperation agreement. And then ->
- The witnesses will give their testimony in cases. This is when it’s show time. They will get on the stand and swear on the witness stand. If they provide substantial assistance, they get a 5K letter.
What is a 5K letter? The 5K letter is what they need to: Not die in jail. It’s a way to get out of jail. Most of them have mandatory sentences. Once they get a 5K letter and it’s time for sentencing, the government is going to tell the judge that they have a 5K letter.
And it’s true. They could get any sentence which is up to the judge, not the government. But let’s talk about the cooperation the government has with drug traffickers. They sit down with the government and negotiate a deal with the government. Here is an example:
Some could get witness protection, not just for them, but their families. If they want the government to talk to another prosecutor’s office, the government agrees to do that. For the drug traffickers, it’s all about getting a 5K letter.
Another feature is that in the 5k letter, the drug traffickers have to agree to provide substantial assistance in the government’s case. They have to tell the truth, but the key is substantial assistance to government and the government decides whether they provided that substantial assistance or not. Keep that in mind. If they do that, they get a 5K letter, which is the golden ticket. That is what the drug traffickers are after.
When they are brought in from jail to the court, remember 3 things: How many people they have killed, their time in prison, and their golden ticket: the 5K letter.
Putting drug traffickers on the stand is not achieving proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The drug traffickers have two goals, 1) getting the 5K, 2) Revenge, because JOH signed and put in place laws that put the drug traffickers out of business.
You will also hear lots about about Tony Hernández. It’s all you’re going to hear about. You’re going to hear that Tony threw his brother’s name around and evidence that Tony gave JOH money. Tony Hernández is 10 years younger. Tony is JOH’s kid brother, and they couldn’t be more different. When Tony was 10 years old, JOH was married and out of the house.
I expect that you will hear evidence about how his election was stolen. Does that make sense? What about the details of that? What about the evidence?
You can’t just say the elections were stolen without evidence.
We will be together for a few weeks. After seeing all the evidence, use your common sense. Use your New York City-street common sense. You will know that what was given to you as evidence are angry drug traffickers that are trying not to stay in jail.
For these reasons, you will find that the defendant, is NOT GUILTY.” END