Former Honduras President Hernández released from prison after Trump pardon

Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández was released from prison after President Trump pardoned him, his wife said Tuesday.

Hernández was sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for taking bribes from drug traffickers so they could safely move 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S., The Associated Press reported.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmate website, Hernández was released from U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton in West Virginia on Monday, and a bureau spokesperson on Tuesday confirmed his release.

"Yesterday, Monday, December 1, 2025, we lived a day we will never forget," Hernández's wife, Ana García, posted on X on Tuesday. "After nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hernández RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump @realDonaldTrump.

"Today we give thanks to God, because He is just and His timing is perfect. Thank you, Mr. President, for restoring our hope and for recognizing a truth that we always knew."

Trump told reporters on Sunday regarding his pardon of Hernández, “I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras.”

“The people of Honduras really thought he was set up, and it was a terrible thing,” he said.

“They basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country. And they said it was a Biden administration set-up. And I looked at the facts and I agreed with them.”

Honduras President Xiomara Castro arrested Hernández at the request of the U.S. in February 2022, then extradited him.

After Trump announced his intention to pardon Hernández, Honduras Attorney General Johel Zelaya said that his office was obligated to seek justice and put an end to impunity. However, he did not specify what charges Hernández could face in Honduras.

Hernández has maintained his innocence, saying he was the victim of revenge by drug traffickers he had helped extradite to the U.S. under three American presidential administrations to reduce drug imports.