Lawyer says Hernandez, who was serving a 45-year sentence for a drug conspiracy, received a ‘full and unconditional pardon’.
Hernandez’s lawyer, Renato Stabile, confirmed that the former Honduran president was released on Tuesday, a day after being granted amnesty.
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“President Trump has issued a full and unconditional pardon, signed on December 1, 2025. President Hernandez was released from prison this morning,” Stabile told Al Jazeera in an email.
A federal prison database showed that Hernandez had been released from a detention center in West Virginia after spending more than three years in a US prison.
Last year, Hernandez was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his involvement in a scheme to export cocaine to the US in what prosecutors described as “one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.”
Trump last week announced plans to pardon the former president of Honduras as he called on people in the Central American country to support right-wing candidate Nasri “Tito” Asfura, a member of Hernandez’s party.
“I will grant a full pardon to former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who, according to many people I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump wrote in a social media post Tuesday.
“This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the elections, when Honduras will be on the way to great political and financial success.”
Hernandez was convicted of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from violent drug trafficking organizations over 18 years, which he used to fuel his rise in politics.
“Throughout his political career, 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 sentencing last year.
“Hernandez’s co-conspirators were armed with machine guns and destructive equipment, including AK-47s, AR-15s, and grenade launchers, which they used to protect their massive cocaine loads during transit in Honduras en route to the United States, protect the money earned from the ultimate sale of this cocaine, and protect their drug trafficking territory from rivals.”
During his trial, Hernandez denied taking bribes from drug dealers, arguing that he cracked down on the narcotics trade and citing his administration’s cooperation with the US military.
Trump’s pardon of Hernandez comes as his administration is carrying out deadly airstrikes in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean against boats he says were carrying drugs — a campaign that critics say violates domestic and international law.
Trump is also issuing threats against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after accusing him without evidence of leading a drug cartel, which the US has labeled a “terrorist” group.
Washington is also increasing its military presence in the Caribbean region in what it calls an anti-drug trafficking campaign, raising speculation of a possible war to oust Maduro from power.
Pardoning Hernández has intensified 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 that killed Americans,” Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto said in a social media post on Monday.
“But instead of standing with law enforcement bringing Hernandez to justice, Trump is letting this criminal go free.”
In Honduras, elections were held on Sunday, but the race is still very close, with sports journalist Salvador Nasralla leading against Asfura by only a few hundred votes.
Trump – who continues to falsely claim that his 2020 election defeat to former US President Joe Biden was caused by widespread fraud – is already casting doubt on the outcome of the vote in Honduras.
“It appears that Honduras is trying to change the results of its presidential election,” he wrote on his Truth social platform on Monday. “If they do, they will pay a heavy price!”
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