Former Honduran MP Fredy Renán Nájera Montoya was convicted of trafficking 30 tons of cocaine and the use of weapons of war
Former Honduran MP Fredy Renán Nájera Montoya will be released at 77 years in prison.
The U.S. Second Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal against the punishment of imprisonment imposed against former Liberal Party congressman by the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York in October 2022. The court ruling confirms the sentence of 30 years ' imprisonment against the 47-year-old former ex-parliamentary.
Background
In the appeal letter, to which EL HERALDO had access, the Court explains that in a guilty plea agreement the former Olancho deputy renounced any right to appeal any sentence lower than the stipulated range of life imprisonment. Because Nájera was sentenced to 30 years in prison, his sentence falls within the scope of the appeal waiver.
He also notes that this Tribunal has repeatedly held that a voluntary and conscious waiver of the right to appeal a judgement is allegedly enforceable.
In addition, it was confirmed that Nájera reviewed the terms of the plea agreement with his lawyer and understood that he renounced his right to appeal any sentence less than life imprisonment.
Nájera, for her part, said in her appeal that the Prosecutor’s Office violated some legal precepts and that the government cannot enforce the waiver of the appeal because it violated the plea agreement by opposing its argument in the sentence that it was entitled to an acceptance of a reduction of responsibility.
Condemnation
Former Nájera MP serves his punishment at the FCI Coleman medium-security prison in Terrace, Florida. On 14 April 2022 he was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and possessing machine guns and destructive devices during the course of that process.
Nájera’s crimes involved the distribution of more than 30 tons of cocaine, which was eventually imported to the United States. He also built, maintained and personalized clandestine airstrips in Olancho, which were used to receive shipments of several hundred kilograms of cocaine sent from Venezuela to Honduras. Nájera facilitated the reception of cocaine-laden planes and helicopters on their runways and coordinated the transport of cocaine to western Honduras so that it could be imported into the U.S.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in El Heraldo