Juan Carlos Bonilla, better known as “El Tigre,” has long been a feared figure in Honduras. His roots were in the military, and he brought that mindset to the national police force, which he eventually led.
But Bonilla’s tenure was dogged by allegations of human rights abuses, including running a death squad and killing drug traffickers for hire. On Tuesday, nearly two years after he was extradited to the United States, he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in federal court in New York.
By pleading guilty to a single drug trafficking charge, Bonilla was able to avoid a trial scheduled to begin Monday and possibly a longer prison term. His plea also dramatically darkened the situation for his co-defendant, former President Juan Orlando Hernández.
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U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel confirmed Wednesday that Hernandez’s trial will begin on Monday.
Another co-defendant, Hernandez’s cousin Mauricio Hernandez Pineda, also pleaded guilty last week. Their pleas leave the former president alone in Monday’s trial, where he could be the prosecution’s star witness.
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is escorted in handcuffs ahead of his extradition to the United States in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Elmer Martinez, File)
Honduran lawyer Marlon Duarte said: “This reinforces the accusation that this is an organized group of three perpetrators involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy and on trial.”
Duarte said Hernandez’s own plea needs to be considered. However, it is unclear whether prosecutors intend to continue offering him a deal.
Hernandez will be extradited to the United States in April 2022, just three months after leaving office, to face drug trafficking and weapons charges. He has maintained his innocence and said the charges were retaliation from drug traffickers he extradited to the United States.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time that Hernández “abused his position as president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022 to run the country as a narcostate.”
Prosecutors say Bonilla was part of that operation.
U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan announced charges against Bonilla in April 2020 for using law enforcement influence to protect cocaine shipments destined for the United States. At the time, Bonilla denied being a drug dealer.
There was a time when Hernandez and Bonilla were considered partners of the United States in the drug war.
Mr. Bonilla was appointed by President Porfirio Lobo in May 2012 as chief of the Honduran National Police until December 2013, but was dismissed when Mr. Hernández became president. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Hernández’s rise to leading the Honduran congress and then running for president was fueled in part by drug money.
Prosecutors say Bonilla allowed drug shipments to pass through police checkpoints without inspection and provided information to drug cartels about police air and sea interdiction operations, allowing them to evade drug cartels. insisted.
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An internal Honduran police report previously accused Bonilla of leading a death squad and being involved in three murders or forced disappearances between 1998 and 2002. He was charged with one count of murder but was acquitted in 2004.
