TuJulietJattDiSerial.Com
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández Released from U.S. Prison Following Trump Pardon
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in helping traffickers move hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States, has been released following a pardon from former U.S. President Donald Trump, his wife announced Tuesday.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons website confirmed that Hernández was released from U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton in West Virginia on Monday. His wife, Ana García, thanked Trump for the pardon on social media, saying, “After almost four years of pain, of waiting and difficult challenges, my husband Juan Orlando Hernández RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump.”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One Sunday that he pardoned Hernández because “I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras,” claiming that Hernández had been unfairly targeted and suggesting the Biden administration orchestrated the case.
Hernández was arrested in February 2022 shortly after leaving office and extradited to the United States. He was later sentenced in New York for accepting bribes from drug traffickers to allow safe passage of roughly 400 tons of cocaine through Honduras. Hernández has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming he was retaliated against by traffickers he had helped extradite to the U.S.
During sentencing, federal Judge P. Kevin Castel said the case should serve as a warning to those in power who believe their status insulates them from justice. The judge noted that Hernández had portrayed himself as an anti-drug trafficking ally of the U.S., while evidence showed he used Honduran police and military forces to protect drug shipments.
Hernández’s immediate return to Honduras is not guaranteed. Honduras’ Attorney General, Johel Zelaya, stated that his office is obligated to pursue justice and end impunity, though he did not specify which charges Hernández might face domestically. President Xiomara Castro, who oversaw Hernández’s arrest and extradition, remains in office until January.
