Laura Hernández
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Laura Hernández Pérez (born ca. 1972) is a Puerto Rican actress and journalist best known for being jailed in the Dominican Republic after being accused of drug trafficking with her husband and five other individuals who were traveling with her at the time of her arrest. She is currently the co-host of Puerto Rican show No te Duermas ("Don't Fall Asleep").
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[edit] Career
Hernández has worked in several professions during her life.
In 1998, she took a break from her college studies to participate in the Miss Mundo beauty pageant representing the town of Hatillo.
She debuted in movies with the local production Impacto Mortal along with Ricky Vázquez, with whom he would share hosting duties on the Univision entertainment show A Fuego. She later starred in another local movie titled Complot, again with Vázquez.
During this time, she opened a boutique with her mother called Porte.
She hosted the radio show Estudio X on the local radio station La Nueva X.
In theatre, she performed in plays such as El HP ("The SOB") and Tus Compañeros de Cama II ("Your Bed Partners II").
She later worked as arts and culture news reporter for Univision's Las Noticias.
[edit] Personal relationships
Hernández has been married twice, first to entrepreneur Maximiliano Paglia (from 2001 to 2002), and later to Marcos Irizarry, whom she married on May 11, 2002. On March 9, 2006 she filed for divorce from Irizzary, who continues to serve his sentence in the Dominican Republic. [1]
[edit] Arrest and imprisonment
Late in 2002, Hernández and her husband Marcos Irizarry were arrested in the Dominican Republic by the Dominican police and charged with trafficking drugs to their country. Hernandez and Irizarry had been in the Caribbean country for nearly a week, touring through different cities and places. According to police reports, their every move had been monitored by police while there. They were arrested while eating at a restaurant. The police said they found drugs in a private boat used by the couple.
Hernández has had chronic stomach disease since she was a child, and her condition worsened the first weeks she was in jail, requiring hospitalization at a medical center outside jail. Her arrest and subsequent trial made the headlines all over Puerto Rico-- El Nuevo Dia, El Vocero, and other newspapers gave it wide coverage. During her convalescence she also received frequent visits from family members and friends.
In June of 2003, Hernández was sentenced to seven years in jail, and her husband to fifteen. On October 29 it was announced that Hernandez would be retried, which could lead to her regaining her freedom. The trial began on November 14.
On March 19, 2004, her defense team suffered a serious setback, when a motion to remove audiovisual evidence from her second trial was rejected by the court.
On December 14 of that year, rumors began to spread that she might get a medical release from jail due to her stomach disease. Puerto Rican television gossiper Kobbo Santarrosa criticized the idea, arguing that her husband, Marcos, who has cancer, should be considered for release first.
On January of 2005, Hernández was denied release on medical grounds.
[edit] Release from Jail
On March 15 of that year, however, and after the deaths of Edwin Adams Cotto and another inmate in a jail riot, it was announced that Dominican judges were considering awarding Hernández an indult, which would grant her her freedom without absolving her of guilt. On July 11, the Dominican court announced that Hernández would be free by September, but her husband would be kept in jail.
Hernandez received the news with anger, mainly because her husband will have to stay in jail and because she was not cleared of the charges.
She was released on August 26, 2005 after a petition was granted to allow her "early release" due to good conduct and all the educational programs she developed while she was incarcerated. Normally, under Dominican laws, Hernández would never be able to return to the Republic. But since her husband remains jailed, in her case, the law was not enforced.
After her return to Puerto Rico, she began working as a show host, alongside Antonio Sanchez, in Sanchez's production of "No Te Duermas", televised on Telemundo Puerto Rico.
