Prison System

The military gave Col. Juan Carlos Osorto Castillo a dishonorable discharge following an internal honor tribunal that recommended his separation amid an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of 8 million lempiras from the Támara prison canteen system.

Honduras's judiciary launched a review of 1,811 case files at Morocelí Prison in El Paraíso to verify inmates' legal status and identify pending sentence reductions or other penitentiary benefits.

Fifteen members of the Pandilla 18 gang have been convicted and sentenced to over 1,000 years in prison for the June 2023 attack on the female prison in Támara that killed 46 women, many of them burned alive in locked cells.

A court acquitted José Rodimiro Arita, former director of La Tolva maximum-security prison, of money laundering and criminal association charges, but found him guilty of breach of duty for failing to report 445,000 lempiras (about $17,800) that entered the facility; sentencing is scheduled for August 4.

A La Ceiba court held a preliminary hearing for Ronal Alexis Cotto, former legal adviser at El Porvenir prison, charged with abuse of authority and dereliction of duty, with a decision on sending the case to trial still pending.