Name: Ex-Honduran president freed from U.S. prison after Trump pardon
Uploaded: 2025-12-02T19:59:32.176Z
Duration: 1 min 41 s
Description: President Donald Trump has pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was released from a U.S. prison where he was serving a 45-year sentence on drug trafficking and firearms charges.

President Donald Trump has pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was released from a U.S. prison where he was serving a 45-year sentence on drug trafficking and firearms charges.

New York

Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras, was released from a U.S. prison after President Donald Trump granted him a pardon. Hernandez had been serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking and firearm offenses, following his conviction by a Manhattan jury in March 2024.

Hernandez, who led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, claimed he was a victim of political persecution and wrote to Trump comparing his prosecution to Trump's own legal challenges. His release comes shortly after a closely contested presidential election in Honduras, where Trump has expressed support for the conservative candidate Nasri Asura.

Ex-Honduran president freed from U.S. prison after Trump pardon

The former president of Honduras was released from a US prison, where he was serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking and firearm charges. It comes after Juan Orlando Hernandez was granted a pardon by President Donald Trump, who has painted himself as a warrior against illegal drugs. Trump has also cited the dangers of illegal drug flows from Latin America as justification for US strikes on boats in the Caribbean and a military buildup near Venezuela. But Trump said Hernandez had been treated unfairly, and a White House official confirmed on Tuesday that Trump signed the pardon for Hernandez on Monday night. In March of 2024, a Manhattan jury found Hernandez guilty of accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect cocaine shipments bound for the United States. He was sentenced in June of last year. Hernandez had said he was the victim of political persecution, and wrote a long letter to Trump in which he called himself a political target of the Biden administration, comparing himself to Trump, who faced multiple prosecutions after his first term, led in part by President Joe Biden's Justice Department. Hernandez's release comes just days after a presidential election in Honduras. Trump has backed the conservative candidate Nasri Asura, who is facing off with liberal Salvador Nasralla. Their latest vote count showed both candidates practically tied, holding just under 40 percent of the vote. Asura's conservative National Party established a close partnership with the U.S. under Hernandez, who was president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022, and was arrested shortly after leaving office.

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