Trump Pardons Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, Convicted of Cocaine Trafficking in 2024

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he will be pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

The President explained his decision on social media by posting that "according to many people that I greatly respect," Hernandez was "treated very harshly and unfairly."

In March of last year, Hernandez was convicted in U.S. court of conspiring to import cocaine into the US. He had served served two terms as the leader of the Central American nation of roughly 10 million people. He had been arrested and eventually extradited in 2022 following the end of his second presidential term.

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Juan Matta-Ballesteros, Who Linked Colombian Traffickers to Honduras and Mexico is to Be Released from Life Sentence in US

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

The United States justice system ordered the immediate release of pioneering Honduran trafficker Juan Ramón Matta Ballesteros, also identified as Juan Ramón Matta López, after granting him a compassionate sentence reduction after spending 36 years in prison.

Judge John A. Kronstadt of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that the Honduran should be resentenced to the time already served and released without further delay.

"The motion is granted. It is ordered that the defendant be resentenced to time served on all charges and released immediately," states the official order dated May 27, 2025. However, currently he remains in BOP custody according to the inmate locator, his release date has not been updated yet from his life sentence at Springfield MCFP.

El Heraldo also contacted the Honduran's defense attorney in the United States, Mark Windsor, who reconfirmed that "the information is correct."

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Former Honduran President Sentenced to 45 Years in US for Drug Trafficking

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

The former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, 55, also known as "JOH," was sentenced today to 540 months (45 years) in prison and 60 months of supervised release for cocaine importation and related weapons offenses.

The former two-term president was in office until weeks before his extradition to the United States in April 2022. Hernández was convicted on March 8, 2024.

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El Chapo in Honduras

Copan Honduras - The chief of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been seen around in the western and northern parts of Honduras, mainly in the provinces of Colon and Copan, local media press reported today citing official sources. "El Chapo" has been to Honduras himself, in the Copan region, and he was at a party, said the security minister of Honduras, Oscar Alvarez.

The Honduran official was interviewed by Jose Cardenas, on Radio Formula. He said that the information on "EL Chapo" was gathered though intelligence provided by informants in the new government.

"What we do know for certain is that Mr. Guzman had been in a place in Copan and in that meeting he was celebrating with a Mexican group and that is where the story goes.

Today the newspaper “La Tribuna” of Honduras released information about the presence of "El Chapo" in the South American country. The news quickly spread through the news agencies.

In the interview, the Honduran minister said that informants working with his government said that the Mexican popular music group Los Tigres del Norte entertained at the party.

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