Cabinet contemplates a possible return of Joseph Ryan Budna to Belize

Prime Minister John Briceño has revealed that his Cabinet is discussing the possibility of requesting that Joseph Ryan Budna be returned from Guatemala to Belize to serve out the remainder of a conviction handed down by the Belize courts.  The Prime Minister made the disclosure during an appearance on The Morning Show on Love FM and Love Television, where he explained that the issue surrounding Budna’s current presence in Guatemala is not simply a matter of him being an escaped convict.  Despite the ongoing legal complications, Prime Minister Briceño said that Cabinet is carefully considering whether Belize should formally approach Guatemalan authorities to request Budna’s return so that he can serve the remainder of his sentence in Belize.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “I think on the Budna issue I’m going to recommend to cabinet and I’ve been discussing it with a few ministers as is to see if from government to government asked for Budna to be returned to Belize but to go to jail. We do that with Mexico from time to time. We have prison exchanges but the agreement is that you have to spend the time in jail. So I don’t know how much years he has left in his case over there so if he has ten more years for instance we will give an assurance to the Government of Guatemala that he will spend the time in jail here so to bring him back.”

Ernesto Vasquez, Host, The Morning Show: Do you see us getting closure on this full investigation? Because unfortunately, it’s one of those things that keeps coming up and people are looking at it. 
John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “Well, we have given a free hand to the DPP, so it’s on the DPP’s hands.”

If pursued, such a request would likely require diplomatic engagement between Belize and Guatemala, as well as legal coordination to determine whether Budna could be transferred under existing legal frameworks between the two countries.  Budna’s legal history extends across both Belize and Guatemala. It is to be noted that Budna is currently pursuing a constitutional claim in Belize’s High Court, alleging that he was unlawfully arrested, tortured, and forcibly expelled from the country to Guatemala by members of the Belize Police Department. The claim stems from events surrounding his removal from Belize in August 2025.  In July 2024, Budna had been arrested and arraigned in Belmopan on a charge of abetment to murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of Guatemalan national Armando Coy Cacao in 2021.    In Belize, he was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to ten years in prison for aggravated assault and an unnatural crime involving a fourteen-year-old boy. Meanwhile, in Guatemala, authorities had previously sentenced Budna to twenty-five years in prison for kidnapping. According to reports from the Guatemalan press, he was considered the leader of a criminal network allegedly involved in international kidnappings across Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. Budna reportedly escaped from a Guatemalan prison in May of 2019 while serving that sentence.  More recently, his name resurfaced in Belize following the June 2023 killing of sixteen-year-old Kelvin Hernandez in San Ignacio, Cayo District.  Budna had publicly claimed he was conducting his own investigation into the case. In May of 2025, he was also involved in an incident in San Felipe, Orange Walk, while live-streaming online, when a man armed with what appeared to be a whip rushed him and struck him during the broadcast.  He has also faced additional allegations in recent years including cyber-bullying and sexual assault involving a minor.