Former Honduran president released from US prison after Trump pardon
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years last year for helping move tons of cocaine into the U.S., was released from prison on Monday, the...
By Fox News · Fox News
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years last year for helping move tons of cocaine into the U.S., was released from prison on Monday, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed to Fox News. Hernández was freed after President Donald Trump announced last week that he was issuing him a "full and complete pardon" following his conviction of conspiring with drug traffickers to import more than 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. Trump said Hernández was "treated very harshly and unfairly," implying that his trial was politically motivated or over-prosecuted. Hernández was convicted in New York on charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and two related weapons offenses after a two-week trial. TRUMP 'PARDON CZAR' EXPLAINS KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRUMP AND BIDEN PARDONS Hernández portrayed himself as a hero of the anti-drug trafficking movement who teamed up with American authorities under three U.S. presidential administrations to reduce drug imports, according to The Associated Press . But the judge said trial evidence proved the opposite and that Hernández employed "considerable acting skills" to make it seem that he was an anti-drug trafficking crusader while he deployed his nation’s police and military, when necessary, to protect the drug trade. His release comes as the Central American country, which has a population of around 11 million people, awaits the results of its razor-thin presidential election race . Trump has publicly favored Nasry Asfura, the candidate from Hernández’s conservative National Party of Honduras (PNH). Overnight, Trump accused Honduras of "trying to change the results." WHITE HOUSE REVEALS BIDEN'S FINAL LIST OF CLEMENCY FOR NEARLY 2,5000 PEOPLE, SETTING NEW PRESIDENTIAL RECORD "If they do, there will be hell to pay! The people of Honduras voted in overwhelming numbers on November 30th," Trump wrote on Truth Social. The U.S. president’s remarks came hours after Ana Paola Hall, president of the National…