From Honduran President to Convicted Drug Trafficker: The Rise and Fall of Juan Orlando Hernandez

In June 2024, after his March conviction, Juan Orlando Hernandez received a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking crimes.

Honduras:

Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who once portrayed himself as a stalwart in the war against drug trafficking, eventually became one of its most notable implicated figures.

Following his conviction for helping smuggle hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States beginning in 2004, well before his presidency, he was sentenced to decades in prison last year.

However, on Tuesday, he unexpectedly regained his freedom.

Despite U.S. prosecutors' claims that he had transformed Honduras into a "narco-state," the 57-year-old attorney received an unexpected pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump stated that Hernandez "has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly," despite his administration having eliminated dozens of alleged but unproven drug smugglers during boat operations in Latin America.

Hernandez maintained that drug kingpins whom he helped extradite to the United States during his presidency had falsely implicated him out of vengeance.

A New York court rejected this defense, ruling in June last year that "the role of Mr. Hernandez was to use his political power as president of Congress and president of Honduras to limit the risks of drug traffickers in exchange of money."

'Up the gringos' own noses'

During his two presidential terms in Honduras from 2014 to 2022, right-wing politician Hernandez was regarded as a faithful ally in the U.S.-led drug war.

Washington even backed his 2017 reelection despite constitutional term limitations and fraud allegations.

Approximately 30 individuals died in clashes during post-election demonstrations.

Prosecutors alleged that Hernandez utilized drug money for personal enrichment, political campaign financing, and electoral fraud in the 2013 and 2017 elections.

Hernandez's legal troubles began early in his second term when authorities arrested his brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, in Miami in 2018, who subsequently received a life sentence for drug trafficking in March 2021.

U.S. support diminished after New York prosecutors accused Hernandez of drug gang involvement in 2022—just weeks after his second term concluded and he transferred power to leftist Xiomara Castro.

Castro removed Hernandez's immunity and authorized his extradition to the United States using legislation he had helped enact as Congress president under Washington's pressure.

Several other accused drug traffickers implicated Hernandez in illegal activities—including a witness who testified hearing him say he would "stick the drug up the gringos' own noses."

He was convicted in March 2024 and sentenced to 45 years imprisonment in June that year.

From poverty to top job

Born October 28, 1968, into an impoverished rural family, Hernandez graduated from military school as an infantry lieutenant.

He earned a law degree from the Autonomous National University and later studied public administration in New York.

Hernandez entered politics in 1990 as his brother's parliamentary assistant, becoming a lawmaker himself in 1998 and serving as Congress president from 2010-14.

In that position, he facilitated replacing four of the five magistrates on the constitutional court—the body that later approved his bid for a second presidential term.

He also established a 5,000-strong military police force that opposition figures characterized as his personal army.

While serving as president, Hernandez faced accusations of attempting to purchase votes through food parcels and housing assistance for impoverished families.

He has four children with his wife Ana Garcia de Hernandez, who is also an attorney.

In 2021, as his presidential term approached its conclusion, Hernandez told AFP he planned to retire and write his memoirs.