President Donald Trump has formally pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, his lawyer Renato Stabile and White House officials said, CNN reported.
President Trump announced last week that he intended to grant Hernández a “full and complete pardon” to expunge a serious drug trafficking conviction against a former U.S. ally.
Hernández, who served as Honduras’ president from 2014 to 2022, was convicted by a U.S. judge last year of drug trafficking charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison and an $8 million fine.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers criticized President Trump’s plan to pardon Mr. Hernández over the weekend, with some saying the president’s decision was incomprehensible given the administration’s efforts to stop drug trafficking.
Hernandez has now been released from prison, according to his attorney. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons database also shows the former Honduran president has been released from a prison in West Virginia.