Trump pardons ex-Honduran president

Hernandez released after his U's. drug conviction

By: Zac Anderson
and Nick Penzenstadler
USA Today

..... President Donald Trump pardoned a former Honduran leader sentenced to prison on cocaine distribution charges, a move the White House said doesn't undermine Trump's anti-drug campaign that includes military strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela.
..... Trump said November 28 [2025] that he planned to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez. A White House official and Hernandez's attorney, Renato Stabile, confirmed December 2 [2025] that the pardon has been issued.
..... Stabile said Hernandez was released early December 2 [2025] from a federal prison where he was serving a 45-eayr sentence "for cocaine importation and related weapons offenses," according to the Justice Department.
..... Hernandez was convicted in March 2024 after a three-week jury trial in New York City. He was "at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world," helping to bring more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States, the Justice Department said in a news release after his conviction.
..... The Justice Department said Hernandez sued bribes form drug-trafficking organizations to "fuel his rise" and then provided "support and protection for his co-conspirators, allowing them to move mountains of cocaine, commit acts of violence and murder, and help turn Honduras into one of the most dangerous countries in the world."
..... Hernandez's involvement in the drug-trafficking operation extended from at least 2004 through 2022, according to the DOJ. He was in office until shortly before he was extradited to the United States in 2022.
..... Prosecutor Jacob Gutwillig said during Hernandez's 2024 sentencing that the former president "corrupted and corroded Honduran government institutions: and protected the drug operation "with the full power of the state." Hernandez was appealing his conviction when he was pardoned.
..... Trump said in a social media post that he was issuing the pardon because "people that I greatly respect" told him Hernandez was "treated very harshly and unfairly." Axious reported that longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone lobbied for the pardon.

Jury 'saw right through his polished demeanor'

..... At Hernandez's sentencing, New York district Court Judge Keven Castel noted that in shipping 400 tons of cocaine worth 410 billion to the United States, some traffickers "drove trucks, piloted boats, or flew airplanes loaded with cocaine."
..... The judge said Hernandez used his political power to limit the risk of interdiction of cocaine and the risk of arrest of drug traffickers, who provided him financial support.
..... "The jury heard the testimony of Juan Orlando Hernandez and saw right through his polished demeanor,: Castel said. "They saw him for what he was, a two-face politician, hungry for power who presented himself as a champion against gangs, murder, crime and drug trafficking but secretly protected a select group of drug traffickers."
..... Hernandez maintained his innocence at the sentencing and submitted supporting letters. In his official sentencing memo, his attorneys attached photographs of him appearing with former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Mike Pence and Trump. He quoted Dante and Martin Luther King Jr. in protesting what he said was a wrongful conviction.
..... "Despite everything done to me, which is an outrage, and lynching. I am an optimist, and I know that the truth will be known later on," Hernandez said at the 2024 sentencing.

White House defends pardon amid boat strikes

..... White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a December 1 [2025] news conference that Hernandez's case was a "clear ... over prosecution" by former President Joe Biden;s administration. Leavitt responded to a question about Whether the clemency action undercuts Trump's posture toward Venezuela, which includes the boat strikes and a large buildup of military forces, by saying "I don;t think so."
..... "I think the President Trump has been quite clear in his defense of the United States homeland to stop these illegal narcotics form coming to our borders, whether that's by land or by sea," Leavitt said. "And he;s also made it quite clear that he wants to correct the wrongs of the weaponized Justice Department under the previous administration."
..... Trump has made cracking down on illegal drug trafficking central to his second term, imposing tariffs on countries he accuses of not doing enough to stop entangle distribution. His administration has also launched an aggressive campaign targeting alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers that has drawn criticism form legal experts and members of Congress.
..... Trump told military service members during a Thanksgiving call that he soon will expand the military operation around Venezuela to include strikes on land.
..... During a December 2 [2025] Cabinet meeting, Trump turned to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to give the meeting's first report as he faces escalating criticism for strikes on alleged drug boats.
..... Lawmakers said they will be reviewing the military's anti-drug operation after a report that the United States carried out a second, lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, killing two survivors as they clung to the wreckage.
..... A report by the Washington Post said the follow-up strikes came after Hegseth gave a verbal directive to "kill them all." Hegseth said the report was "fabricated." Leavitt said at a December 1 [2025] news conference that Admiral Frank M. Bradley gave the order for the second strike and was "well within his authority to do so."
..... Hegseth said December 2 [2025 that "Trump alwasy ahs our back" and addied: "We allways have teh back of our commander who are making decisions in difficult situationist, and we do in this case and all these strikes. They're making judgment calls and ensuring that they defend the American people. They've done the right things."
..... "Good job," Trump said when Hegseth concluded his remarks.

..... Contributing: Fancesca Chambers, USA Today

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