Trump Pardons Former Honduran President Hernández Amid Drug Trafficking Controversy

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in a massive drug trafficking operation, has been released from a U.S. federal prison following a pardon granted by U.S. President Donald Trump, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Hernández was freed Monday from the U.S. Penitentiary in Hazelton, West Virginia, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, with the agency’s online records confirming his release.

The pardon comes just days after Honduras’ presidential election and has sparked both praise and condemnation internationally.

Trump defended the decision while aboard Air Force One on Sunday, stating that many Hondurans believed Hernández had been “set up.” He argued that prosecutors had wrongly targeted the former president, despite court findings that Hernández facilitated the movement of hundreds of tons of cocaine through Honduras to the United States.

Hernández’s wife, Ana García, praised the pardon on the social media platform X early Tuesday, likening her husband’s case to Trump’s own legal and political battles. Speaking outside her home in Tegucigalpa, García said Hernández was now in an undisclosed location for his safety and planned to address the Honduran people on Wednesday.

Hernández’s attorney, Renato Stabile, declined to share his current whereabouts.

García said the pardon process began months ago with a petition to the U.S. Office of Pardons, followed by a personal letter Hernández sent to Trump on his birthday, October 28.

“My husband is the president who has done the most for Honduras in the fight against organized crime,” García said.

Trump explained his reasoning to reporters, asserting that the Honduran public considered Hernández innocent and suggesting the former president had been unfairly targeted as part of a political “set-up” by the Biden administration.

Hernández’s attorney described the pardon as a correction of “this injustice.”

The move has faced sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois condemned the pardon, saying, “They prosecute him, find him guilty of selling narcotics through these cartels into the United States. Can you think of anyone more reprehensible than that?” Durbin called the pardon “not an action by a President trying to keep America safe from narcotics.”

Hernández was arrested in February 2022 at the request of the United States, weeks after the current Honduran President Xiomara Castro took office. His 2024 conviction in New York found him guilty of taking bribes from drug traffickers to protect the movement of approximately 400 tons of cocaine through Honduras.

During his trial, Hernández maintained he was innocent and claimed he had been targeted in retaliation by traffickers he had extradited.

Federal Judge P. Kevin Castel, who sentenced Hernández, emphasized that the conviction should serve as a warning to powerful individuals who believe their status shields them from justice.

The judge noted that Hernández had used “considerable acting skills” to portray himself as an anti-drug crusader while allegedly facilitating the drug trade.

Despite his release from U.S. custody, Hernández’s return to Honduras is not guaranteed. Honduras’ Attorney General Johel Zelaya stated that the office would continue seeking justice and accountability. Several corruption-related investigations into Hernández’s two terms remain unresolved.

The pardon, announced just days before Honduras’ presidential election, injected a controversial element into the vote, potentially influencing support for the candidate from Hernández’s National Party, Nasry Asfura, according to observers.

Hernández’s release underscores the complex intersection of U.S.-Honduran relations, counter-narcotics efforts, and domestic politics in both countries, as Washington’s past aggressive actions against drug cartels continue to reverberate across the region.