Overview
- Juan Orlando Hernández was released after President Donald Trump issued a full, unconditional pardon of his U.S. narcotics and weapons conviction.
- Hernández had been sentenced in 2024 in New York to 45 years in prison, with the Justice Department saying he facilitated the importation of more than 400 tons of cocaine and abused presidential power.
- In a video after his release, Hernández thanked Trump, proclaimed his innocence, and claimed his prosecution was a political conspiracy involving narcotraffickers, the Honduran left, and officials in the Biden administration.
- Luis Santos, who leads Honduras’s anti-corruption unit, told CNN there is an open case for money laundering and fraud and a related arrest warrant filed with the Security Secretariat and Interpol since September 2023.
- Santos said Honduras would request extradition from the United States if Hernández does not return, while Hernández’s attorney, Renato Stabile, said he could not confirm that a formal arrest order exists.