President Donald Trump announced his plans to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras.
Hernández was sentenced to 45 years in U.S. federal prison on drug trafficking and weapons charges, Mediaite reported.
Trump announced his intentions with a post on Truth Social Friday.
“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,”Trump wrote. “This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success.”
In 2022, Hernández was arrested in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He was then extradited to the U.S. in 2022 and faced charges in a New York federal court.
U.S. prosecutors said Hernández had used his power as president to help traffic more than 400 tons of cocaine to the United States in exchange for millions in bribes from traffickers such as Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Prosecutors said he ran his country as a “narco-state.”
He was convicted in 2024 on three counts related to drug trafficking and firearms conspiracies.
He was then sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, then five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay an $8 million fine.
Earlier this week, Trump posted about supporting Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura, the Honduran presidential candidate of the conservative National Party.
He said he and Asfura “can work together to fight the Narcocommunists, and bring needed aid to the people of Honduras.”
He reiterated his support Friday.
“VOTE FOR TITO ASFURA FOR PRESIDENT, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE HONDURAS GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump also said Asfura doesn’t win, “the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is.”
