US President Donald Trump has pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was serving a 45-year sentence after being convicted of conspiring to import tons of cocaine into the United States.Hernandez was released from prison in Hazelton, West Virginia, on Monday night, following the pardon signed by Trump.Trump's move is an extraordinary act that critics warn could strain US credibility in Latin America and embolden corrupt actors. However, Trump has previously stated that he believes Hernandez was treated unfairly by the administration of his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.Hernandez was convicted by a Manhattan jury in March 2024 and sentenced in June of that year. During the Biden administration, the US Justice Department asserted that Hernandez had abused his power by accepting millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers to protect their US-bound cocaine shipments and fuel his rise in Honduran politics.
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After his sentencing, the Justice Department stated that he helped to facilitate the importation into the US "of an almost unfathomable 400 tons of cocaine" and was "at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world."At his sentencing, Hernandez maintained his innocence, claiming he was the victim of drug dealers who testified against him after he helped extradite them to the United States. He portrayed himself as a scourge of drug traffickers, stating, This was a political persecution by drug traffickers and politicians."Hernandezs wife, Ana Garcia de Hernandez, praised Trump in a social media post, writing, "After nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hernandez RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump."White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt publicly supported the pardon, claiming Hernandez had been the victim of a "setup.""This was a clear Biden over-prosecution. He was the president of this country. He was in the opposition party. He was opposed to the values of the previous administration, and they charged him because he was president of Honduras," Leavitt said.The pardon was also vocally supported by conservative commentator and longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, who confirmed on his radio show that he had given Trump a long letter from Hernandez. In that letter, Hernandez reportedly called himself a political target of the Biden-Harris administration, drawing parallels between his prosecution and the legal challenges faced by Trump.
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