Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, was granted a full and complete presidential pardon by U.S. President Donald Trump on December 1, 2025. Hernández had been serving a 45‑year federal prison sentence in the United States after his conviction in March 2024 for conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and related firearms offenses. Hernández was extradited to the U.S. in April 2022 to face those charges.
According to U.S. authorities, Hernández participated in a long‑running drug trafficking conspiracy that moved hundreds of tons of cocaine toward the United States while he was in positions of political power. The conviction followed a jury trial in the Southern District of New York and a June 2024 sentencing. Hernández’s brother, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was previously sentenced to life imprisonment on related charges.
President Trump announced the pardon in late November 2025 and subsequently confirmed it on December 1, 2025. Following the pardon, Hernández was released from the U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton, in West Virginia. In announcing the pardon, Trump stated his view that Hernández had been treated unfairly. Hernández’s release and pardon attracted attention from U.S. lawmakers, international observers, and media outlets given the nature of his conviction and the scale of the drug trafficking allegations.
