Federal records consulted by ProPublica have revealed that after President Donald Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on December 1, prison officials moved to remove an immigration detainer that would normally transfer a noncitizen to federal immigration custody, then arranged overnight transport by a specialized tactical team from a high-security prison in West Virginia to a luxury hotel in Manhattan.
Hernández had been sentenced in June 2024 to 45 years in prison for cocaine importation and related weapons offenses after a federal jury convicted him in Manhattan. At the time, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Hernández "abused his power" and helped facilitate trafficking of more than 400 tons of cocaine bound for the United States.
Prosecutors said he used his political authority to protect traffickers who sent "billions of individual doses" of cocaine north.
On the night of Hernández's December release, Bureau of Prisons staff were called back to process paperwork. Records show immigration officials lifted the detainer shortly after 11 p.m., allowing him to leave custody rather than be transferred to ICE, as ProPublica reports. Lena Graber of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center said:
"It's definitely special treatment. That's not normally the way it goes. Most people with drug convictions would never get their ICE detainer removed just because the conviction was pardoned"
According to accounts from current and former prison staff, Hernández was also allowed to use a captain's government phone to speak with the Bureau of Prisons' deputy director, Joshua Smith, who himself had received a presidential pardon.
"The [prisons bureau] administration rolled out the red carpet for him," said Joe Rojas, a retired prison worker and former union leader who has been speaking to the media on behalf of staff. "The staff are disgusted."
Hernández's court-appointed lawyer, Renato Stabile, said facilitating his release without immediate deportation was appropriate, arguing it would be "particularly cruel" to pardon him and then send him back to Honduras, where he could face arrest or violence.
Additional context emerged after a report by Axio in December which contained a letter Hernández wrote from prison seeking clemency. In it, he addressed Trump as "Your Excellency" and argued his prosecution was politically motivated. Trump later defended the pardon, saying he reviewed the case and agreed with claims Hernández had been treated unfairly.
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