Overview
- Hernández was released from U.S. custody after Trump issued a full pardon, with Bureau of Prisons records showing he had been serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking and weapons offenses.
- Posting his first public statement since release, Hernández thanked Trump, declared himself innocent, and called his New York trial a setup, while his location has not been disclosed.
- The pardon coincided with Honduras’s unresolved presidential tally, where Salvador Nasralla and Trump-backed Nasry Asfura are separated by a razor-thin margin as Trump warned of “serious consequences” over any change in results.
- A four-page letter from Hernández praising Trump and lobbying by figures such as Roger Stone were reported as influential in securing the clemency, according to Axios and subsequent coverage.
- Honduran prosecutors say corruption and money-laundering inquiries into Hernández remain active, as Trump’s broader use of clemency drew notice with his separate pardon of Rep. Henry Cuéllar and a New York judge hearing arguments referencing the Hernández pardon in another drug case.