The Drug Case Against the Former Honduras President Trump Wants to Pardon [View all]

US President Donald Trump’s plans to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández belie the evidence US prosecutors used to convict the former head of state on cocaine trafficking charges.

The pardon, which was announced by Trump via his Truth Social account just two days before the Honduran presidential election, has yet to be made official and casts the decision to prosecute Hernández in political terms.

“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernández who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump stated in the November 28 post.

But US prosecutors, among them the Trump appointed-judge Emil Bove, spent years building a case against Hernández, which was based on the testimony of numerous drug traffickers, ledgers, and other evidence they presented in court during a three-week trial in 2024.

It remains to be seen if and when the pardon will move forward. For now, Hernández remains in a US federal prison with his release date set for June 2060, according to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

https://insightcrime.org/news/drug-case-former-honduras-president-trump-pardon/