June 26 (UPI) – Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez must serve a 45-year sentence in a U.S. federal prison and pay an $8 million fine for drug trafficking.

Southern New York District Court Judge Keven Castel sentenced Hernandez, 55, on Wednesday after a jury found him guilty of three counts of drug trafficking following a three-week trial in March.

During the sentencing hearing, Hernandez denied his guilt, claiming he was “wrongfully and unfairly accused.”

Castel described Hernandez as a “two-faced politician” who was “power hungry” and protected certain drug traffickers.

These dealers are said to include Juan “El Chapo” Guzman, a notorious Mexican drug lord who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison.

Castel filed a motion to retry his case in May because a police officer falsely claimed that cocaine trafficking in Honduras had increased during Hernandez's presidency.

Castel said the false information was irrelevant to Hernadez's trial or conviction.

“Hernandez's conviction was based on the testimony of … numerous witnesses, some of whose testimony was corroborated by telephone records and a seized drug registry,” Castel wrote in denying the motion for retrial.

Hernandez served as President of Honduras for two terms from 2014 to 2022 and ran as a candidate who said he wanted to maintain law and order while fighting drug-related crime in the country.

During Hernandez's presidency, the U.S. government provided Honduras with $50 million to combat drug trafficking and millions more for military aid and security.

Federal prosecutors sought Hernandez's extradition in 2022 after learning that he had been in contact with drug traffickers as early as 2004, helping them smuggle about 500 tons of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela destined for the United States.

Several previously convicted drug traffickers testified against Hernandez, who called them “professional liars” in his own defense.

Hernandez's brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, was a former congressman in Honduras and was convicted of other drug offenses in the same Manhattan federal court in 2021.