Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is escorted by Police Special Forces for extradition to the U.S. on April 21, 2022, in Tegucigalpa. (Jorge Cabrera/Getty)
Former Attorney General Merrick Garland said the ex-two-term president used his power to support one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.
"Hernández received millions of dollars of drug money from some of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico, and elsewhere, and used those bribes to fuel his rise in Honduran politics," the Department of Justice said.
DHS TERMINATES TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR AROUND 76K HONDURAN, NICARAGUAN MIGRANTS
Hernández’s brother, Juan Antonio Hernández Alvarado, was also convicted in October 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.
The U.S. killed six alleged drug traffickers on a boat in international waters near Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)
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Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., criticized the decision to pardon Hernández, saying it made little sense to free him while the U.S. continues to pursue Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on federal narco-terrorism charges.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also criticized the move in an interview on CNN, saying he couldn’t understand how the U.S. could "threaten a potential land war against a thug and a narco-terrorist who plays like he’s the president of Venezuela, and then go easy on someone whose investigation that led to an indictment started in the Trump administration."
Ashley Carnahan is a writer at Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-world-leader-thanks-trump-pardon-you-changed-my-life