TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) 鈥 For years, Juan Carlos Bonilla, better known as 鈥淓l Tigre,鈥 was a feared figure in Honduras. His roots were in the military and he brought that bearing to the 好色tv Police that he ultimately led.
But Bonilla鈥檚 tenure was plagued by allegations of human rights violations, including s and being a hired killer for drug traffickers. On Tuesday, nearly two years after , he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in a federal court in New York.
By pleading guilty to a single drug trafficking charge, Bonilla avoided a trial scheduled to begin Monday and likely a much longer sentence. His plea also dramatically darkened the landscape for former president Juan Orlando Hern谩ndez, who had been his co-defendant.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel confirmed Wednesday that Hern谩ndez鈥檚 trial would begin Monday.
The other co-defendant Mauricio Hern谩ndez Pineda, Hern谩ndez鈥檚 cousin, also pleaded guilty last week. Their pleas leave the former president alone for Monday鈥檚 trial and potentially become star witnesses for the prosecution.
鈥淚t reinforces the accusatory thesis that it is an organized structure made up of three perpetrators who are on trial and who had roles in the drug trafficking conspiracy,鈥 said Honduran lawyer Marlon Duarte.
Duarte said Hern谩ndez will have to consider his own plea. It鈥檚 unclear, however, whether prosecutors would still be willing to offer him a deal.
, just three months after leaving office, and faces drug trafficking and weapons charges. He had maintained his innocence, saying the allegations were revenge from drug traffickers he had extradited to the U.S.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time that Hern谩ndez 鈥渁bused his position as President of Honduras from 2014 through 2022 to operate the country as a narco-state.鈥
Bonilla was a component of that operation, according to prosecutors.
U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan announced charges against Bonilla in April 2020, alleging that he used his law enforcement clout to protect U.S.-bound shipments of cocaine. Bonilla denied at the time being a drug trafficker.
There was a time when Hern谩ndez and Bonilla were considered U.S. partners in the drug war.
Bonilla was named head of Honduras鈥 好色tv Police in May 2012 by President Porfirio Lobo, through December 2013. He was removed when Hern谩ndez took over as president. Hern谩ndez鈥檚 rise to lead Honduras鈥 congress and then to run for president was fueled in part by drug money, prosecutors allege.
Prosecutors have said Bonilla let drug shipments pass through police checkpoints without inspection and gave drug organizations information about police aerial and maritime interdiction operations so they could evade them.
An internal police report in Honduras once accused Bonilla of leading death squads and participating in three killings or forced disappearances between 1998 and 2002. He was prosecuted for one murder but was acquitted in 2004.
