Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández returned to Honduras on Sunday to face criminal charges of fraud and money laundering, months after receiving a full pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump that erased his 45-year drug trafficking sentence.
Hernández arrived at Palmerola International Airport, north of the capital Tegucigalpa. He is accused of diverting $2 million in public funds to finance his first presidential campaign, with an initial court hearing scheduled for August 3.
Hernández, who governed Honduras from 2014 to 2022, was convicted in a U.S. court in 2024 for large-scale drug smuggling. Trump granted the pardon in November 2025, and Hernández was released from custody the following month.