Trump Formally Pardons Former Honduran President Hernández, Who Is Released From Prison the Same Day
On December 1, 2025, President Donald J. Trump formally granted a pardon to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, and Hernández was released from prison the same day. A Congressional Research Service report issued on December 4 said that, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the pardon was formally granted on December 1 and Hernández was released that day. He had served less than four years of a 45-year sentence for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related offenses.
Hernández served as president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022. In March 2024, a U.S. federal jury convicted him of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related firearms offenses, and in June 2024 he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Hernández and his coconspirators trafficked more than 400 tons of U.S.-bound cocaine through Honduras between 2004 and 2022. When President Trump announced his intention to pardon Hernández on November 28, he asserted that Hernández had been treated "unfairly."
The pardon formed part of a broader message endorsing Nasry Asfura, the presidential candidate of Hernández's National Party, and was announced two days before Honduras held its general election on November 30. The Congressional Research Service said Hernández's family and some National Party leaders reportedly welcomed the pardon, while Asfura's rivals reminded voters of the corruption and criminal scandals of the Hernández administration; some Members of Congress questioned and criticized the pardon.
The research service also said the Honduran attorney general has suggested that Hernández may face charges should he return to Honduras, where he reportedly is the subject of an open investigation.
Related: Hondurans Vote in Peaceful General Election as Asfura, Nasralla and Moncada Contest the Presidency
Source: Congressional Research Service
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部大楼（资料照片）。APK摄，CC BY 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons；联邦固定图库同源图。 / Photo: The U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington (file photo). By APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; federal fixed image library image.
- 2025-11-28Trump Announces Pardon for Former Honduran President Hernández, Sentenced to 45 Years in the U.S. on Drug Trafficking Convictions
- 2025-11-30Hondurans Vote in Peaceful General Election as Asfura, Nasralla and Moncada Contest the Presidency
- 2025-12-01Trump Formally Pardons Former Honduran President Hernández, Who Is Released From Prison the Same DayThis story
