(CNN) — President Donald Trump has formally pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, according to his attorney Renato Stabile and a White House official.
Trump had announced his intention of granting a “full and complete pardon” to Hernández last week in a move that erases a major US drug-trafficking conviction for a onetime US ally.
President of Honduras from 2014 until 2022, Hernández was convicted and sentenced last year to 45 years in prison and given an $8 million fine by a US judge for drug trafficking offenses.
Both Republican and Democratic members of Congress had criticized Trump’s plan to pardon Hernández over the weekend, with some saying they didn’t understand the president’s decision given the administration’s efforts to stop drug trafficking.
Hernández has now been released from prison, according to his attorney. A US Bureau of Prisons database also shows that the former Honduran president was released from a prison in West Virginia.
“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 4 years in prison,” Stabile added in a statement.
Hernández’s wife, Ana García de Hernández, said in a social media post reacting to his release that her husband was a “free man” thanks to Trump’s pardon.
White House defends plan
The White House on Monday defended Trump’s plan to pardon Hernández after facing criticism that granting clemency to a convicted drug trafficker ran counter to their ongoing pressure campaign against drug cartels in the Caribbean.
“This was a clear Biden over-prosecution,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “He was the president of this country. He was in the opposition party. He was opposed to the values of the previous administration, and they charged him because he was president of Honduras.”
But as CNN has reported, prosecutors accused Hernández of conspiring with drug cartels during his tenure as they moved more than 400 tons of cocaine through Honduras toward the United States. In exchange, prosecutors said, Hernández received millions of dollars in bribes that he used to fuel his rise in Honduran politics.
Though the Trump administration is blaming the Biden administration, Hernández’s brother was actually prosecuted by Emil Bove during Trump’s first term in office. Bove then served as Trump’s personal attorney before becoming a federal judge nominated by Trump.
There were several people in Trump’s orbit lobbying for Hernández’s pardon, including his longtime ally Roger Stone, who said he called on Trump in June to pardon him and claimed he was targeted by the Biden administration.
Lawmakers criticize pardon of Hernández
Since Trump announced his plans to pardon Hernández, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have criticized the move, with some suggesting it goes against the US’ escalating efforts in the region against alleged drug cartels.
GOP Rep. Maria Salazar told CNN’s Dana Bash on Monday that she felt Trump’s announcement sent a mixed message as the administration advances its campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“I would have never done that,” the Florida Republican said.
Similarly, GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy posted on X Sunday, “Why would we pardon this guy and then go after Maduro for running drugs into the United States? Lock up every drug runner! Don’t understand why he is being pardoned.”
Democratic Rep. Norma Torres of California, meanwhile, sent a letter to Trump on Saturday, urging him to not pardon Hernández.
“Releasing Mr. Hernández flies in the face of your stated aim to fight narco-trafficking and to label narcotics gangs as terrorists,” Torres wrote in the letter. “If drug cartels are terrorist organizations, Juan Orlando Hernández is a convicted terrorist and must not go free.”
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine called the planned pardon “a disgusting and incomprehensible decision by Trump.”
“It’s the same old story from this Administration: no plans to actually make our communities safer or more prosperous, only ridiculous — and likely corrupt — schemes to reward wealthy criminals,” Kaine said in a statement.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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