Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was released from federal custody December 1 following a full pardon granted by former U.S. President Donald trump [[1]], [[2]], [[3]]. Hernández had been serving a 45-year sentence after being convicted in 2024 on charges of drug trafficking and weapons offenses [[2]]. The pardon has ignited controversy, raising questions about U.S.-Honduras relations and the potential impact on regional efforts to combat drug trafficking as Honduras prepares for a contentious presidential election.
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was released from a federal high-security prison in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, on December 1, according to updated records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The release follows a full pardon granted by former President Donald Trump. The move underscores the ongoing political ramifications stemming from the Honduran government and its relationship with the United States.
Hernández, 57, was extradited to the United States in April 2022 and sentenced in March 2024 to 45 years in prison on three charges related to drug trafficking and firearms offenses, along with a five-year period of supervised release and an $8 million fine. He served as president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022.
The former president’s wife, Ana García, expressed her gratitude to Trump on Tuesday, stating that her husband was “a free man again” after nearly four years in detention, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Last week, Trump announced his decision to pardon Hernández, arguing that the Biden administration had “set up” the former Honduran leader. He repeated this claim on Friday in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, and reaffirmed his support for conservative candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura of the National Party, who is running in the Honduran presidential election alongside Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party. Early results from the election show a tight race.
The decision to release Hernández has drawn mixed reactions. Critics argue the pardon undermines the fight against drug trafficking, while supporters point to alleged irregularities in the trial and claim political persecution. According to reporting from Axios, Hernández requested the pardon by sending Trump a letter praising him and recalling the cooperation between the two countries during Trump’s first term. Axios reported that the letter addressed Trump as “Your Excellency” and that the pardon may have also been influenced by a lobbying campaign led by Roger Stone, a longtime Trump associate.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed Trump’s claims of a setup by the Biden administration on Monday. Leavitt told reporters that Hernández’s public defender had only three weeks to prepare the case and argued during the proceedings that the charges against the former president were a legal maneuver linked to the party of outgoing President Xiomara Castro, in coordination with the Biden administration and then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Leavitt added that Hernández testified during the trial about a lack of independent evidence and the prevalence of testimony from “confessed criminals” seeking sentence reductions in exchange for cooperation.
