Letter to Hon. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General of the United States - Congresswoman Norma J. Torres Calls for U.S. Department of Justice to Indict and Extradite Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras

Letter

Dear Attorney General Garland:

I write to urge you to immediately indict, and subsequently request the extradition of, President
Juan Orlando Hernández upon the completion of his term in office as President of Honduras on
January 27, 2022. President Hernández has been a central figure in undermining the rule of law
in his own country and in protecting and assisting drug traffickers to move their materials
through Honduras and to the United States. He has been repeatedly identified as a co-conspirator
in other drug trafficking cases and has caused incredible pain to both the people of Honduras and
the United States. I believe it is essential that the United States hold him accountable for his
criminal behavior.

As you know, the Biden Administration has worked to increase the rule of law, promote
accountability, and strengthen democracies throughout the Americas, including in Central
America. It has been a difficult task, in part due to the previous Administration's inaction to
anti-democratic and corrupt behaviors during their time in office. Often, criminal elites have
escaped justice, and that very process has undermined peoples' faith that their own governments
have their best interests in mind. I strongly believe that it would send a powerful message if the
United States took these critical steps to hold President Hernández accountable.

President Hernández's criminal behavior over the years is sadly well documented. In recent
years, the Department of Justice has indicted and prosecuted two Honduran citizens who have
directly implicated President Hernández in receiving bribes from drug cartels, and in return
acting as a buffer to allow the drug trade to flourish in Honduras. In 2019, the Department of
Justice indicted, tried, and obtained a guilty verdict against former Honduran Congressman Juan
Antonio 'Tony' Hernández Alvarado for drug trafficking crimes, including the importation of
cocaine into the United States. "Tony' Hernández, better known as the brother of President Juan
Orlando Hernández, was at the head of a criminal organization which committed violent crimes
against others, shipped drugs internationally, and paid bribes to cover up their crimes. As
detailed by the evidence at the trial, President Hernández was intricately involved in his brother's
activities, and worked to cover up and protect those efforts. The evidence showed that President
Hernández received "massive" bribes from his brother and others to prevent the investigation,
prosecution, and eventually the extradition of "Tony' Hernández and other drug traffickers, that
he received bribes from drug traffickers to finance his campaign for President in 2013, and
solicited bribes from drug traffickers between 2015 and 2017 to support his party's electionrelated efforts. In evidentiary documents, the Department refers to President Hernández as CoConspirator 4 (CC-4).

Additionally, the Department also indicted and prosecuted Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez, a drug
trafficker in Honduras who worked with the Hernández brothers. Evidence at this trial shows
President Hernández's ongoing corruption, acceptance of bribes, and active assistance protecting
drug traffickers from investigation, prosecution, and extradition. Additionally, among other
things, a witness observed President Hernández (again identified as Co-Conspirator 4) admitting
that he had embezzled United States foreign assistance funding. Additionally, President
Hernández told the defendant that he would protect him from prosecution. Finally, President Hernández told the defendant that he wanted the United States to think that he was fighting drug trafficking, but in reality, wanted to "shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos." After both trials, it is clear that President Hernández helped guide and protect the drug operations of his brother and other narcotraffickers. He sought to ensure that their crimes against both
Hondurans and the Americans went uninvestigated and unprosecuted. He used his leadership not
to help the people of his country, but to help himself and his cronies. And he allowed the drug
trade to continue to flourish in Honduras, at the expense of his own people and of Americans
who suffer from drug addiction as a result.

I believe his actions violated the public trust, and the laws of both the United States and
Honduras. It is critical that our nation hold President Hernández accountable, so that the
Honduran people can begin the process of accountability, healing, and change. I ask that upon
the end of his term on January 27th, 2022, that President Hernández be immediately indicted
based on the already existing body of evidence, and that the Department of Justice work with the
Department of State to begin the extradition process to bring him to justice here in the United
States.

Thank you for you work to hold accountable those individuals who would harm both the peoples
of Central America as well as Americans living in the United States. I look forward to your
future actions in this area, and to your response.

Sincerely,

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