President Donald Trump announced Friday on Truth Social that he plans to issue a full pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving a 45 year sentence in U.S. federal prison on drug trafficking and weapons charges. Hernández was arrested in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in February 2022 and extradited to the United States two months later to face federal charges in New York.
Prosecutors said Hernández ran Honduras as a “narco-state,” using his office to help traffickers move more than 400 tons of cocaine toward the United States. They said he was paid millions in bribes from major drug figures, including Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
A federal jury convicted Hernández in March 2024 on drug trafficking and firearms conspiracy charges. He was sentenced on June 26, 2024, to 45 years in federal prison, five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay an eight million dollar fine.
