Honduran Court Drops Fraud, Money Laundering Case Against Former President

A Honduran court on Tuesday dismissed fraud and money laundering charges against former President ‌Juan Orlando Hernández, clearing him of remaining charges in the country nine months after he was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump and freed from U.S. prison.

Hernández was serving a 45-year sentence in the United States on drug trafficking charges. When Hernández returned to the Central American nation in July, he still faced charges of fraud and money laundering, as part of a corruption investigation. Prosecutors had accused him and other high-profile officials of diverting nearly $11 million in state funds to political campaigns between 2010 ​and 2013. Some of this money was allegedly used for Hernández’s first presidential campaign.

Honduran judiciary spokesman Carlos Silva told reporters that a judge had concluded that Hernández was not responsible for budgetary decisions at the time of the alleged crime and there was insufficient evidence that he had embezzled funds during his 2013 presidential campaign.

The former president was cheered by his supporters outside the court as he made a statement alongside his wife, Ana Garcia, who unsuccessfully sought the National Party’s presidential nomination in 2025.

“Of course we expected this outcome because the case ​had no basis. The ruling is clear. Today, this chapter of political ⁠persecution has ended,” Hernández said.

“Those who orchestrated this operation not only wanted to see me banished from Honduras forever, never to return, but they were determined to leave my family on the street,” he added, in reference to assets that were seized by the Honduran authorities.

Silva said ‌prosecutors could still appeal.

Hernández, from the National Party, was president from January 2014 until January 2022, when, shortly after leaving office, he was arrested by Honduran police and extradited to the United States.

He was described by a prosecutor during his 2024 drug trial in the United States as a corrupt politician who let his country’s biggest drug traffickers fuel his rise to power, but was portrayed by his defense lawyer as a heroic leader who worked with U.S. authorities to fight the drug trade.

He was sentenced to 45 years in a ‌U.S. prison in June 2024. Announcing the pardon for Hernández in November 2025, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the former president had been treated harshly and unfairly.

Hernández was arrested three months after the left-wing LIBRE party won the presidential election in Honduras in November 2021, and Xiomara Castro became the country’s first woman president. LIBRE was heavily defeated in November 2025, in an election that saw the National Party return to power under President Nasry Asfura, who was backed by Trump.

Trump said at the time that Asfura represented the “only real friend of Freedom in Honduras.” He also said he might withhold aid to the country if Asfura lost.

In late July, Hernández said he had no immediate plans to seek public office in Honduras.

“We have a new leadership in our party. We want to support them,” he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.