SDNY COURTHOUSE, Feb 25 – During the trial that convicted Tony Hernandez, the brother of Honduras' president Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH), on all four counts of guns and narcotics trafficking and false statements, the Honduran National Police came up again and again in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Tony Hernandez asked SDNY Judge P. Kevin Castel for a free lawyer, saying he has no more money. On February 24, the hand-over was to occur at 2:30 pm. Inner City Press went to Judge Castel's Courtroom 11D, finding there many it recognized from the trial. But Tony Hernandez would not come out of the holding cell. Inner City Press live tweeted thread here.
Tony has been given, under the Criminal Justice Act and so at US taxpayer expense, a lawyer from the white shoe law firm Milbank, Katherine R. Goldstein, whom we've previously covered representing a Chinese alleged money launderer, here. (Milbank is also in the SDNY in the Puerto Rico debt case, here).
Now on February 25, a second Milbank lawyer has filed a notice of appearance to represent convicted narco-trafficker Tony Hernandez: "NOTICE OF ATTORNEY APPEARANCE: Kingdar Prussien appearing for Juan Antonio Hernandez Alvarado. Appearance Type: Pro Bono. (Prussien, Kingdar)." Pro bono means for free. Inner City Press intends to have more on this.
Tony's sentencing is now April 15. Inner City Press will have more on this.
Tony's sentencing is now April 15. Inner City Press will have more on this.
Earlier, Inner City Press first reported that Mauricio Hernández Pineda, a former member of the National Police of Honduras, has been arrested and detained on consent. He signed a financial affidavit of poverty - ironic - and was assigned CJA court appointed counsel, Michael Martin. Soon he will appeared before SDNY Judge Castel. Inner City Press will remain on the case.
Also during Tony Hernandez' trial, the drug ledgers of one Nery Orlando López Sanabria a/k/a Magdaleno were used by the SDNY prosecutors.
Here is an Inner City Press tweeted photo of notebook mentioning "JOH," in Spanish. Inner City Press has repeated asked the United Nations, in New York and Geneva, for comment. Dead silence.
A week after the Tony Hernandez verdict, Magdaleno was murdered in a supposedly maximum security prison in Santa Barbara, Honduras.
The video are very troubling [WARNING] including the guards letting the killers in, here.
UNSG Antonio Guterres refused all Press questions about Honduras during the trial and in the nine days since the verdict. On October 29 Inner City Press has asked: "what are the comments and actions of Guterres on the video taped killing of Nery Orlando López a/k/a Magdaleno Meza Fúnez, whose notebooks were used to convict Presidential brother Tony Hernandez in the SDNY court this month? Now Reinero Valle has, as Madgaleno had before his assassination, asked to be moved out of that El Pozo prison due to threats to silence him as a witness, so far without response to his lawyer Nazario Luque? Again, immediately provide the report / read-out of Guterres' four person panel sent to Honduras, and complete read out of his meeting with JOH." Now as of November 2, as Guterres presumptively uses El Chapo's money via JOH to visit strongmen leaders in Turkey and Thailand then, uncontested, waste money at his real home in Lisbon, nothing. Total corrupt.
This while Guterres' UN, despite its protestations and misuse of the concept, enable fake news in Honduras.
On October 27 a publication in Honduras said the UN office of human rights has said nothing. But nothing had been emailed out to its press list, and nothing could be found on its website in Geneva - it turns out news it doesn't want anyone or at least not the drug funded dictators it answers to see it, it puts on obscure sub-sites, see below.
At 9 am on October 28 Geneva time Inner City Press in writing asked UN "High Commissioner for Human Rights" Michelle Bachelet and her spokesman Rupert Colville this: "Hello, this is a Press request for OHCHR / Bachelet comment on the murder, on video, in Honduras of 'Magdeleno' whose drug trafficking notebook were used in recent SDNY conviction of Presidential brother Tony Hernandez, a trial Inner City Press covered every day. See video of killing here.
More on Patreon here.
Inner City Press which covered the trial daily has asked the UN for the comment of SG Antonio Guterres who met with JOH in September 2019 and did not even mention corruption, much less drug trafficking.
On October 26 after the murder and release of the video, Inner City Press went to (try to) pose the question to Guterres. The response? Video here. Three UN security vehicles, and even a publicly funded NYPD detective, "protecting" Guterres who already wastes untold public funds on security. Disgusting. A protest has been called for, and is needed - @InnerCityPress response here. More on Patreon here.
Inner City Press on October 18 asked the defendant's lawyer Omar Malone about this client's post arrest statement, the admitted murders by the cooperating witnesses, and upcoming sentencing submission. Video and answers here.
