Hern\u00e1ndez was sentenced to 45 years in prison for trafficking more than 400 tons of U.S.-bound cocaine through Honduras \u2014 which amounts to more than 4.5 billion individual doses of cocaine, the Department of Justice<\/a> reported. <\/p>\n Hern\u00e1ndez served as president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022. Since his three-week, New York City-based trial in 2024, Hern\u00e1ndez has been serving his 45-year sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Hazelton, West Virginia. <\/p>\n What was Hern\u00e1ndez found guilty of?<\/p>\n In court documents covering about two decades, the Department of Justice<\/a> concluded that Hern\u00e1ndez \u201cabused his powerful positions and authority in Honduras,\u201d and his co-conspirators \u201cwere armed with machine guns and destructive devices including AK-47s, AR-15s and grenade launchers, which they used to protect their massive cocaine loads as they transited across Honduras on their way to the United States.\u201d <\/p>\n The DOJ said Hern\u00e1ndez received millions in drug money and benefitted from partnering with violent drug-trafficking organizations in Central and South America. <\/p>\n \u201cAs Hern\u00e1ndez rose to power in Honduras, he provided increased support and protection for his co-conspirators, allowing them to move mountains of cocaine, commit acts of violence and murder and help turn Honduras into one of the most dangerous countries in the world,\u201d the DOJ wrote. <\/p>\n Members of Hern\u00e1ndez\u2018s conspiracy used the Honduran president\u2019s position to more easily traffic drugs into the U.S. \u2014 to the extent of using \u201cheavily armed Honduran National Police officers to protect their cocaine loads as they transited through Honduras towards the United States for eventual distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n Hern\u00e1ndez\u2018s brother, Juan Antonio Hern\u00e1ndez Alvarado; the former chief of the Honduran National Police, Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares; a former member of the Honduran National Police and Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s cousin, Mauricio Hern\u00e1ndez Pineda; and the cocaine trafficker, Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez, have pleaded guilty to participating in the cocaine importation conspiracy.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s reason for pardoning Hern\u00e1ndez is …<\/p>\n Aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said<\/a> he was \u201casked by Honduras (and) many of the people of Honduras\u201d to pardon Hern\u00e1ndez. <\/p>\n \u201cThey said it was a (former president Joe) Biden setup. I don\u2019t mean Biden. Biden didn\u2019t know he was alive, but it was the people that surround the Resolute desk, surround Biden when he was there, which was about, uh, very little time,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd the people of Honduras really thought he was set up, and it was a terrible thing.\u201d <\/p>\n Trump continued, \u201cHe was the president of the country, and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country. And they said it was a Biden administration setup. And I looked at the facts and I agreed with them.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked what evidence the president found that indicates Hern\u00e1ndez is not guilty, Trump responded, \u201cWell, you take a look. I mean, they could say that, you take any country you want. If somebody sells drugs in that country, that doesn\u2019t mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat includes this country, OK, to be honest. I mean, if somebody does something wrong, do you put the president of the country in jail? They said it was a Biden setup. It was a Biden administration setup,\u201d Trump said, before switching the subject to the upcoming special election<\/a> in Tennessee. <\/p>\n What are people saying?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/HPLNRQ7UV5CLBLI3L7YOIWQIOE.jpg\")
A screen displays an image of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a day after President Donald Trump said he plans to pardon Hernandez for a 2024 drug trafficking sentence, before the start of a press conference of Ruling party presidential candidate Rixi Moncada in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. | Moises Castillo, Associated Press <\/p>\n