NEW YORK — A defense lawyer cited President Donald Trump’s recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on Thursday as she asked a judge who once presided over a civil sex abuse case against Trump to treat a former Honduran congressman leniently for his drug conspiracy conviction.

Attorney Kristen Santillo said the Hernandez pardon made it unfair to force her 65-year-old client, Midence Oqueli Martinez Turcios, to spend essentially the rest of his life behind bars while others who “are the most powerful, who have the most money ... are going to go home.”

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan sentenced Martinez, a former Honduran congressman, to 21 years and 10 months in prison. While he acknowledged that sentencing disparities are a factor judges must consider, he also made it clear

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