Former Honduran leader has US conviction overturned

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TEGUCIGALPA — Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez had his conviction for drug-trafficking overturned by a US appeals court on Wednesday, following a pardon by US President Donald Trump last year, according to a court document.

Hernandez, who led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, was convicted in 2024 on charges of having helped smuggle hundreds of tons of drugs into the United States and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Trump pardoned Hernandez in November ahead of elections in Honduras, which were won by the Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry Asfura from Hernandez's right-wing party.

A copy of the appeals court ruling, which Hernandez posted late Wednesday on Facebook, showed that the case was sent back to the district court "with instructions to dismiss the case as moot."

Speaking from an undisclosed American city, Hernandez declared in an online appearance that the US justice system had now "vindicated" him.

"It's a complete clean slate, it's total justice... We give our thanks to President Trump, to all the friends who I know are thousands and thousands in Honduras and outside Honduras who have supported us," Hernandez said.

Hernandez's wife Ana Garcia earlier told reporters in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa about the ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

While the US presidential pardon had freed Hernandez from custody and removed the legal penalty he faced, it would not have expunged his conviction from the record.

Hernandez has asked Trump to approve visas for his family so they can be reunited.

"Four years ago, they took me out of the country in a disgraceful way because of a political vendetta by those who, by persecuting me, wanted to hide their own crimes," the former Honduran leader said in his virtual message.

"Soon I will return with my head held high, as I have always held it, despite the fact that they wanted to make me kneel. I am going to continue proving my innocence," he added.

Hernandez was convicted on cocaine trafficking and other charges in league with kingpins such as Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo".

Hernandez maintained that he was a victim of "vendettas" by traffickers he extradited.

The two-page court document, dated Wednesday, said the US government did not file a response to Hernandez's bid to vacate the district court judgment.