Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez has been released from a United States prison after receiving a presidential pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Hernandez, who was serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking and firearms offences, was freed from the Hazelton prison facility in West Virginia on Monday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons registry.
The pardon, signed by Trump on Monday night, followed months of public criticism from the former U.S. president, who argued that Hernandez had been unfairly prosecuted. “After nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hernandez returned to being a free man,” his wife, Ana Garcia, wrote on social media, expressing gratitude to Trump.
At his sentencing, Hernandez had insisted that he was the victim of political persecution orchestrated by drug traffickers and rival politicians. His claims were amplified by longtime Trump ally Roger Stone, who publicly campaigned for his release and said he had personally delivered Hernandez’s letter of appeal to Trump.
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Stone alleged that Hernandez faced the same “illicit and unconstitutional” investigative tactics that he claimed were deployed against Trump in the federal probe led by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Garcia credited Stone’s advocacy as being instrumental in securing her husband’s pardon.
Hernandez’s release comes days after Honduras held a presidential election in which Trump openly backed conservative candidate Nasry Asfura, who is currently in a tight race with liberal contender Salvador Nasralla.