President Donald Trump has issued a pardon for former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, leading to his release Monday from a federal prison in West Virginia after nearly four years behind bars. Hernandez’s wife, Ana García, announced the news on social media, saying her husband was “once again a free man.”
The move is one of the most unusual and controversial pardons of Trump’s presidency, especially as his administration continues aggressive actions against suspected drug-trafficking boats at sea.
Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.
Point phone camera here
Why was Hernandez in prison?
Hernandez was convicted in March 2024 of conspiring to traffic cocaine into the United States – a scheme the Justice Department says spanned a decade and moved more than 400 tons of cocaine. Federal prosecutors described the operation as one of the “largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world.”
During this time, Hernandez received millions of dollars of drug money from some of the most violent drug-trafficking groups in the Americas, according to the DOJ.
Hernandez served two terms as the president of Honduras. Federal prosecutors said he used this power to provide increased protection for his co-conspirators, which they said allowed them to move “mountains” of cocaine, commit acts of violence and murder, and turn Honduras into one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
The DOJ said Hernandez publicly promoted legislation that supported anti-narcotics measures. However, at the same time, he protected his inner circle of drug dealers and those who helped him stay in power.
He was arrested in Honduras in 2022, extradited to the United States, convicted on all counts in 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Trump’s explanation for the pardon
Trump has offered shifting and unsubstantiated justifications for intervening in the case.
After the pardon became public, Trump posted on social media that “many people that I greatly respect” said Hernandez was treated “very harshly and unfairly.” He did not elaborate on who those people are.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump went further, claiming, without evidence, the prosecution was a “Biden setup.”
“He was the president of the country, and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country,” Trump told reporters. “And they said it was a Biden administration setup, and I looked at the facts, and I agreed with them.”
When reporters asked Trump what evidence he had seen to indicate Hernandez’s case was a setup, he said, “You take any country you want, if somebody sells drugs in that country, that doesn’t mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life.”
On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the conviction was a “clear Biden overprosecution” and referred vaguely to “egregious” information that emerged at Hernandez’s trial.
Bipartisan backlash
Lawmakers in both parties sharply criticized the pardon.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., questioned why Trump would pardon a convicted drug trafficker while simultaneously escalating pressure on Venezuela over narcotrafficking.
“Why would we pardon [Hernandez] and then go after Maduro for running drugs into the United States? Lock up every drug runner! Don’t understand why he is being pardoned,” he wrote on social media.
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., said she wouldn’t have pardoned Hernandez but supports Trump’s Venezuela policy.
“I do know that right now what the president is doing with Venezuela is exactly correct for many reasons,” she said in a CNN interview on Monday. “And that‘s why I stick to what I‘m telling you.”
Democrats were even more direct.
Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., sent a letter to Trump urging him not to follow through with the pardon. She said if Trump believes drug cartels are terrorist groups, then he is a convicted terrorist and shouldn’t be released.
“Releasing Mr. Hernández flies in the face of your stated aim to fight narco-trafficking and to label narcotics gangs as terrorists,” Torres wrote in the letter, according to CNN. “If drug cartels are terrorist organizations, Juan Orlando Hernández is a convicted terrorist and must not go free.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called the pardon “likely corrupt.”
“It’s the same old story from this Administration: no plans to actually make our communities safer or more prosperous, only ridiculous—and likely corrupt—schemes to reward wealthy criminals,” he wrote in a statement.
