The former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, has been sentenced to 45 years behind bars for conspiracy to smuggle drugs and weapons offences, according to a judge in New York.
In addition, the 55-year-old must pay a fine of $8 million, US media reported on Wednesday. A jury in New York found Hernández guilty in March.
Hernández was president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022. Shortly after his term of office ended, he was extradited to the United States, where he was put on trial.
According to the indictment, he allegedly turned Honduras into a narco-state in order to corrupt the institutions of the Central American country and enrich himself.
The conservative politician is alleged to have helped drug smugglers - including the Mexican ex-cartel boss Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who is now in prison in the US - to smuggle hundreds of thousands of kilograms of cocaine via Honduras to the US.
Hernández has always denied the allegations. In his opinion, the accusations are revenge by drug traffickers who were handed over to the US justice system by him. They had lied in order to reach agreements to reduce their sentences, he says.
He is expected to lodge an appeal.