What documents and evidence did prosecutors rely on besides GX 1010 to convict Juan Orlando Hernández?

1. The paper trail: trafficker ledgers and notations that named “JOH”

Central documentary evidence were drug ledgers seized in related cases that contained entries showing payments and notations with Hernández’s name and the initials “JOH,” which prosecutors used to anchor claims that traffickers funneled money to both Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández and the former president ^{[1] [2]}. Those physical ledgers surfaced in the trial of Hernández’s brother and in other co‑defendant proceedings, and the U.S. government emphasized that the entries reflected large payments tied to traffickers who operated key transit points in Honduras ^{[2] [1]}.

2. Testimony from convicted traffickers and cooperating witnesses

Prosecutors relied heavily on live testimony from convicted drug traffickers and cooperators — including members of local trafficking networks such as Los Cachiros and other co‑conspirators — who described a pattern of bribes, meetings, and protective actions by the Honduran state that benefitted narcotics shipments to the United States ^{[4] [1]}. The DOJ framed that testimonial evidence as corroborating the ledger entries and showing that Hernández used his high office to shield and facilitate large-scale cocaine exports ^{[5] [3]}.

3. Corroboration from prior trials and co‑conspirator convictions

The government’s case drew force from a chain of earlier prosecutions: Tony Hernández’s 2019 conviction and sentencing, and the convictions of violent traffickers like Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez, supplied records, witness statements, and trial exhibits that prosecutors fed into the Manhattan trial as corroborative material ^{[3] [2]}. DOJ and U.S. Embassy statements highlight that several co‑conspirators had already been convicted and that evidence developed in those proceedings — including ledgers and witness testimony — was admitted against the former president ^{[3] [2]}.

4. Meetings, communications and alleged protective acts by the state

Prosecutors presented evidence they said showed Hernández met with traffickers and used police and military assets to protect shipments and trafficking routes, a factual frame the trial judge and DOJ cited in describing how state power was leveraged to the benefit of cartels ^{[5] [4]}. Media coverage and official releases also noted that the government alleged Hernández coordinated with traffickers over many years to facilitate importation of cocaine into the United States ^{[5] [6]}.

5. Firearms and weapons charges as physical corroboration

Beyond the drug‑ledger and testimonial corpus, the indictment included firearms counts and the jury found Hernández guilty on weapons offenses, reflecting the prosecution’s use of physical‑evidence and possession allegations to connect him to the violent, armed dimension of the conspiracy ^{[6] [3]}. Sentencing filings and DOJ summaries described these counts alongside the importation conspiracy as part of the overall case against Hernández ^[3].

6. How the government tied the threads together — and the limits of the public record

The public record assembled by prosecutors combined ledgers, cooperator testimony, documentary exhibits from prior trials, and allegations about meetings, payments and state protection to present a cohesive conspiracy narrative; DOJ officials explicitly characterized Hernández as “at the center” of a massive trafficking enterprise in their announcements ^{[5] [3]}. Reporting underscores that much of the government’s factual scaffolding came from materials introduced in other prosecutions (e.g., Tony Hernández and other traffickers) and from witnesses whose credibility the defense contested at trial ^{[1] [7]}. Where the available sources do not disclose granular evidentiary items admitted at trial beyond those categories, this account does not speculate about undisclosed exhibits or the contents of GX 1010 itself ^{[5] [2]}.