Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández freed after Trump
pardon
[December 03, 2025]
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN and MIKE CATALINI
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Former Honduras President Juan Orlando
Hernández, sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in a
drug trafficking operation that moved hundreds of tons of cocaine to the
United States, was released from prison following a pardon from
President Donald Trump, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Hernández was released Monday from U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton in West
Virginia, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons told The
Associated Press. The bureau’s online inmate records also reflected his
release.
The release of Hernández — a former U.S. ally whose conviction
prosecutors said exposed the depth of cartel influence in Honduras —
comes just days after the country’s presidential election. Trump
defended the decision aboard Air Force One on Sunday, saying Hondurans
believed Hernández had been “set up,” even as prosecutors argued he
protected drug traffickers who moved hundreds of tons of cocaine through
the country.
The pardon also unfolds against the backdrop of Trump’s aggressive
counter-narcotics push that has triggered intense controversy across
Latin America. In recent months, U.S. forces have repeatedly struck
vessels they say were ferrying drugs north, a series of lethal maritime
attacks that the administration argues are lawful acts of war against
drug cartels — and that critics say test the limits of international law
and amount to a pressure campaign on Venezuela’s President Nicolás
Maduro.
The Trump administration has carried out 21 known strikes on vessels
accused of carrying drugs, killing at least 83 people. The
administration has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to
stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the U.S. is
engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, similar to the war
against al-Qaida following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Hernández's wife applauds his release
Ana García thanked Trump for pardoning her husband via the social
platform X early Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday outside her home in Tegucigalpa, she
thanked Trump for pardoning her husband and drew a parallel between the
two men.
“Today the whole world realizes that, like they did with President
Donald Trump, the same Southern District, the same prosecutor created a
political case,” García said.
She said Hernández called her Monday evening to say he was in the office
of the prison head and had been told he will be released. García said
Hernández is in an undisclosed location for his safety, but that he
plans to address the Honduran people on Wednesday.
Hernández’s attorney Renato Stabile said in an emailed statement he also
would not share the former president’s current location.
García said the process to seek a pardon began several months ago with a
petition to the office of pardons. Then on Oct. 28, Hernández’s
birthday, he wrote a letter to Trump. He announced he was pardoning
Hernández last Friday.
“My husband is the president who has done the most for Honduras in the
fight against organized crime,” Garcia said.
Trump's rationale for the pardon
Trump was asked Sunday why he pardoned Hernández.
“I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras,” Trump told
reporters traveling with him on Air Force One.
“The people of Honduras really thought he was set up, and it was a
terrible thing,” he said.
“They basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president
of the country. And they said it was a Biden administration set-up,"
Trump said. "And I looked at the facts and I agreed with them.”
Stabile, the attorney, said Hernández is glad the “ordeal” is over.
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Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks during the opening
ceremony of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow,
Scotland, Monday Nov. 1, 2021. Andy Buchanan/Pool via AP, File)
“On behalf of President Hernández and his family I would like to thank
President Trump for correcting this injustice,” Stabile said.
Democratic lawmakers expressed condemnation and disbelief that Trump
issued the pardon.
“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? Selling drugs to this country, finding more
victims by the day,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois in a speech on
the Senate floor.
“This is not an action by a President trying to keep America safe from
narcotics,” Durbin added.
The Trump administration has declared drug cartels to be unlawful
combatants and has carried out strikes in the Caribbean against boats
the White House says were carrying drugs.
The case against the former president
Hernández was arrested at the request of the United States in February
2022, weeks after current President Xiomara Castro took office.
Two years later, Hernández was sentenced to 45 years in prison in a New
York federal courtroom for taking bribes from drug traffickers so they
could safely move some 400 tons (360 metric tons) of cocaine north
through Honduras to the United States.
Hernández maintained throughout that he was innocent and the victim of
revenge by drug traffickers he had helped extradite to the United
States.
During his sentencing, federal Judge P. Kevin Castel said the punishment
should serve as a warning to “well educated, well dressed” individuals
who gain power and think their status insulates them from justice when
they do wrong.
Hernández portrayed himself as a hero of the anti-drug trafficking
movement who teamed up with American authorities under three U.S.
presidential administrations to reduce drug imports.
But the judge said trial evidence proved the opposite and that Hernández
employed “considerable acting skills” to make it seem that he strongly
opposed drug trafficking while he deployed his nation’s police and
military to protect the drug trade.
Hernández is not guaranteed a quick return to Honduras.
Immediately after Trump announced his intention to pardon Hernández,
Honduras Attorney General Johel Zelaya said via X that his office was
obligated to seek justice and put an end to impunity.
He did not specify what charges Hernández could face in Honduras. There
were various corruption-related investigations of his administration
across two terms in office that did not lead to charges against him.
Castro, who oversaw Hernández's arrest and extradition to the U.S., will
remain in office until January.
The pardon promised by Trump days before Honduras’ presidential election
injected a new element into the contest that some said helped the
candidate from his National Party Nasry Asfura as the vote count
proceeded Tuesday.
___
Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey. Associated Press writer
Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C., contributed.
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