President Donald Trump has pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year U.S. prison sentence for a drug-trafficking conspiracy. The decision, confirmed by a White House official and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, led to Hernández's release from a federal facility in West Virginia on Monday and has drawn criticism amid ongoing U.S. efforts against narcotics trafficking in Latin America.
Juan Orlando Hernández, who served two terms as Honduras's president from 2014 to 2022, was convicted in a U.S. court of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. Court documents and prosecutors describe the case as part of one of the largest and most violent drug‑trafficking conspiracies in the region, alleging that traffickers moved at least 400 tons of cocaine to the United States between the mid‑2000s and the end of Hernández's presidency while receiving protection from Honduran officials.
According to U.S. authorities, Hernández and other officials received millions of dollars in drug proceeds, which prosecutors say were used to enrich political allies and bolster his grip on power. He was indicted after a multiyear investigation and, in 2024, was sentenced to 45 years in prison by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel, who described him as a "two-faced politician hungry for power." Then–Attorney General Merrick Garland said Hernández "abused his presidency to operate the country as a narco-state where violent traffickers operated with near-total impunity," according to court filings and public statements.
Hernández has maintained his innocence, arguing that the case relied heavily on testimony from convicted traffickers and, in a letter promoted by longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, characterizing his prosecution as "lawfare by the Biden-Harris administration," as reported by NPR and other outlets.
Trump announced the pardon late last week, first hinting at the move on social media with a post reading in part: "CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON... MAKE HONDURAS GREAT AGAIN!" NPR reports that Trump later told reporters he believed Hernández had been treated "very harshly and unfairly" and suggested, without providing evidence, that the case was driven by political motives.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the pardon was granted, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Hernández's release from U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton, a high‑security prison in West Virginia, on Monday, according to NPR's reporting. Hernández had been appealing his conviction at the time of his release.
In public remarks and media appearances, Stone has said he lobbied for Hernández's release and delivered a four‑page letter from the former Honduran leader to Trump in which Hernández again insisted he was wrongfully convicted. Conservative outlets, including The Daily Wire, have highlighted Trump allies' claims that the Justice Department treated Hernández excessively harshly, framing the prosecution as part of a broader campaign against Trump and his supporters.
The pardon has prompted sharp criticism from Democrats and some Republicans. Sen. Tim Kaine (D‑Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, called the decision "shocking," saying on CBS's "Face the Nation" that Hernández "was the leader of one of the largest criminal enterprises that has ever been subject to a conviction in U.S. courts, and less than one year into his sentence, President Trump is pardoning him, suggesting that President Trump cares nothing about narcotrafficking," according to NPR. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R‑La.) has similarly questioned how the administration can portray itself as tough on narcotics while freeing a convicted trafficker, Politico reports.
Hernández's time in office overlapped with Trump's first term, during which he aligned himself closely with U.S. policy in several areas. He joined a small group of countries in moving Honduras's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a decision that strengthened his relationship with the Trump administration, according to NPR and other news accounts.
The pardon comes as Honduras awaits the final outcome of a closely contested presidential election. Trump has openly backed National Party candidate Nasry "Tito" Asfura, an ally of Hernández. In a statement reported by The Washington Post, Trump hailed Asfura as a future "Great President" and pledged that the United States would work closely with him "to ensure the success, with all of its potential, of Honduras." The race between Asfura and opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla remains tight, and some analysts in Honduras and the United States have warned that the timing of Hernández's release could further polarize an already fraught political environment.
Hernández's wife, Ana García de Hernández, has praised the decision in public comments and on social media, portraying her husband as a victim of political persecution and thanking Trump for the pardon. Major U.S. outlets have not independently verified all of her specific assertions about his treatment, but they have documented her efforts to rally domestic and international support for his release.
The case underscores the tension between Trump's rhetorical campaign against drug trafficking—particularly his administration's escalating operations targeting Venezuelan networks—and his willingness to grant clemency to a former head of state whom U.S. prosecutors depict as central to a vast narcotics pipeline. Legal experts and anti‑corruption advocates say the move could complicate future U.S. efforts to bring high‑level foreign officials to trial on drug‑trafficking and corruption charges.
