WASHINGTON, Unites States (US): Former Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernandez, has been released from a West Virginia prison after US President Donald J. Trump formally pardoned him, his attorney Renato Stabile said on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.
Hernandez was sentenced by a US jury last year to 45 years in prison for cocaine importation into the US and related weapons offences, according to a 2024 press release from the US Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs.
“On behalf of President Hernandez and his family, I would like to thank President Trump for correcting this injustice. President Hernandez is glad this ordeal is over and is looking forward to regaining his life after almost four years in prison,” Stabile said in a statement.
The US Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database showed that Hernandez was released from the US Penitentiary in Hazelton on Monday.
Last week, Trump wrote on the social media platform, Truth Social: “Congratulations to Juan Orlando Hernandez on your upcoming pardon … make Honduras great again!”
Hernandez, a major figure in Honduras’ National Party, served as president of Honduras for two consecutive terms from 2014 to 2022.
Less than a month after leaving office in 2022, he was arrested and extradited to the US. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
