Hernandez, who was serving a 45-year sentence for drug conspiracy, received a “full and unconditional pardon,” his lawyer said.
U.S. authorities have released former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a long prison sentence for drug trafficking, after receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump.
Hernandez’s lawyer, Renato Stabile, confirmed that the former Honduran president was released on Tuesday, the day after the pardon.
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“President Trump has issued a complete and unconditional pardon signed on December 1, 2025. President Hernandez was released from prison early this morning,” Stabile told Al Jazeera in an email.
Hernandez was released from a West Virginia detention center after spending more than three years in U.S. prisons, according to a federal prison database.
Last year, Hernandez was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in a U.S. cocaine export scheme that prosecutors described as “one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world.”
President Trump last week called on Central Americans to support right-wing candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura, a member of Hernandez’s party, and announced plans to pardon the former Honduran president.
“I am extending a full pardon to former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who, according to many people I respect, has been treated very harshly and unjustly,” Trump said in a social media post Tuesday.
“This cannot be allowed to happen at a time when Honduras is poised for great political and financial success, especially after Tito Asufura won the election.”
Hernandez was convicted of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from a violent drug lord over an 18-year period, which he used to fuel his rise in politics.
“During his political career, Mr. Hernandez abused his powerful position and authority in Honduras to facilitate the importation of more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States,” the U.S. Justice Department said after his conviction last year.
“Hernandez’s co-conspirators, armed with machine guns and destructive devices such as AK-47s, AR-15s, and grenade launchers, protected large quantities of cocaine as it passed through Honduras en route to the United States, and ultimately used it to protect the proceeds from selling this cocaine and protect drug-trafficking areas from rivals.”
During the trial, Hernandez claimed to have cracked down on the drug trade and denied accepting bribes from drug dealers, citing the regime’s cooperation with the U.S. military.
President Trump’s pardon of Hernandez comes as the Trump administration carries out deadly airstrikes against ships in the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean that it claims are carrying drugs, an operation that critics say violates domestic and international law.
Trump has also made threats against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after accusing him, without evidence, of leading a drug cartel that the United States has labeled a “terrorist” group.
The US government has also increased its military presence in the Caribbean in what it calls an anti-drug-trafficking operation, increasing speculation about a possible war to topple Maduro’s regime.
Hernandez’s pardon prompted criticism of the Trump administration’s approach to Latin America.
“As President, Juan Orlando Hernandez personally helped the Sinaloa Cartel and El Chapo smuggle deadly drugs into the United States. Drugs have killed Americans,” Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said in a social media post Monday.
“But instead of defending the law enforcement agencies that brought Hernandez to justice, President Trump is trying to free this criminal.”
Honduras held a general election on Sunday, but the race remains close, with sports journalist Salvador Nasralla leading Asfulura by just a few hundred votes.
President Trump, who continues to falsely claim that his 2020 election loss to former US President Joe Biden was due to widespread fraud, has already cast doubt on Honduras’ vote results.
“It appears that Honduras is trying to change the outcome of the presidential election,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday. “If that happens, you’ll pay in hell!”
