Former Honduran President Sent a Letter To Trump Calling Him 'Your Excellency' To Secure a Pardon

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez sent a letter to Donald Trump calling him "your excellency" to praise him before securing a pardon, according to a new report.

Axios published the letter, which Hernandez sent from prison, telling Trump he "found strength" in Trump. "Your resilience to get back in that great office notwithstanding the persecution and prosecution you faced," he added.

Hernandez went on to say that his case "advanced only because the Biden-Harris DOJ pursued a political agenda to empower its ideological allies in Honduras" and that he didn't have efficient legal representation.

His efforts were also aided by longtime operator Roger Stone, who said Hernandez was a victim of leftist "lawfare" both in his country and in the U.S. Hernandez was released from the West Virginia prison he was staying in on Tuesday.

Trump defended pardoning Hernandez. Speaking to press aboard the Air Force One, Trump was asked why he would "pardon a notorious drug trafficker." "The people of Honduras really thought he was set up. He was the president of the country and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country. They said it was a Biden administration setup and I looked at the facts and I agreed with them," Trump claimed.

Asked about the facts he was referring to, he said: "You take any country you want. If someone sells drug in that country that doesn't mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life," he added.

Trump has been heavily criticized for the move. One of those who took aim at him was Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego. "So we are illegally killing drug runners in the Caribbean on boats that will never make it to the US and pardoning cartel kingpins that a US jury has convicted for drug running? Anyone else see how this doesn't make sense?" Gallego said in a social media publication, a reference to accusations against the administration of conducting extra-judicial killings with its strikes of alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

Hernandez was convicted in June 2024 York federal court after being found guilty of drug and gun trafficking charges. He was also required to pay a $8 million fine.

Hernández had already been found guilty by a jury in March. His lawyers had requested the minimum sentence for these kinds of crimes, 40 years, while prosecutors in the case requested the maximum one, life in prison.

• Trump Defends Pardoning Former Honduran President Convicted Of Drug Trafficking: 'The People of Honduras Really Thought He Was Set Up'
• Honduras Far From Dismantling Ex-president's 'Narco-state': Experts

© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.