<div class="css-17ih8de interactive-body"><style> .g-doc-page_paper:not(.g-doc-page_html) { padding-top: 129.41176470588235%; } </style> <div class="g-graphic"> <div class="g-doc-wrapper g-ocr-ready"> <div class="g-item g-document"> <div class="g-doc-page_wrapper"> <div class="g-doc-page_container"> <div class="g-doc-page g-doc-page_image" data-hasannotations="false" id="page-1"> <div class="g-doc-page_inner clearfix"> <div class="g-doc-page_paper doc-shell"> <img alt="Page 1 of 4" aria-describedby="page-1-text" class="g-doc-image lazyload" data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/09df932101ced3a6/1/output-1.png" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png" width="1700"/> <noscript> <img alt="Page 1 of 4" aria-describedby="page-1-text" class="g-doc-image" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/09df932101ced3a6/1/output-1.png" width="1700"/> </noscript> <p class="g-doc-text" id="page-1-text">October 28th, 2025 "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' John 8:32 His Excellency Donald J. Trump President of the United States of America The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C., USA Your Excellency, I have the honor to extend to you my warmest greetings and convey my highest respect, esteem, and blessings. Mr. President, I have hesitated to send this letter, knowing the immense demands of your office, but the grave injustice I now endure compels me to appeal directly to you. I write to you from a federal penitentiary, unjustly serving a 45-year sentence, effectively a life sentence given my age. Just as you, President Trump, I have suffered political persecution, targeted by the Biden-Harris administration not for any wrongdoing, but for political reasons. My wrongful conviction is based on the uncorroborated statements of convicted drug traffickers, one of whom even recorded a video exposing senior members of the Honduran radical left party, Libre, discussing bribes with traffickers, yet admitted during my rigged trial that they had no evidence to support their accusations against me, just “the word of a drug trafficker." Prosecutors were fully aware of this and of the exculpatory context surrounding my case, yet they proceeded, disregarding truth and fairness. This occurred despite my being commended for the unprecedented measures, historic results, and consistent cooperation with U.S. agencies in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime. I appeal to you because I am innocent, and I believe only you can help correct this grave injustice, a clear weaponization of justice against me. I have found strength from you, Sir, your resilience to get back in that great office notwithstanding the persecution and prosecution you faced, all for what, because you wished to make your country Great Again. What you accomplished is unprecedented and truly historic. Not only did you get yourself reelected, but under your leadership, your party won both chambers of Congress. Your resilience in the face of relentless political persecution has inspired me deeply. Like you, I sought only to serve my people, to uphold our conservative values while leading unprecedented reforms to make my country stronger and safer. And like you, I was recklessly attacked by radical leftist forces who could not tolerate change, who conspired with drug traffickers and resorted to false accusations, lawfare, and selective justice to destroy what we had achieved and clear the path for the Honduran radical left's return to power. The politicization and selective application of justice in my case is undeniable. Even high-ranking radical left leaders in Honduras have publicly admitted that my trial was political and unfair. I was prosecuted without 1</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="g-doc-page g-doc-page_image" data-hasannotations="false" id="page-2"> <div class="g-doc-page_inner clearfix"> <div class="g-doc-page_paper doc-shell"> <img alt="Page 2 of 4" aria-describedby="page-2-text" class="g-doc-image lazyload" data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/09df932101ced3a6/2/output-2.png" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png" width="1700"/> <noscript> <img alt="Page 2 of 4" aria-describedby="page-2-text" class="g-doc-image" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/09df932101ced3a6/2/output-2.png" width="1700"/> </noscript> <p class="g-doc-text" id="page-2-text">solid evidence, based on the testimonies of violent traffickers and professional liars motivated by revenge and by get-out-of-jail deals. Importantly, evidence later revealed that several of these criminals, even prior to and during their interactions with U.S. officials, had sought to entrap others and fabricate evidence they could subsequently offer to the DOJ in exchange for reduced sentences. Some of these efforts succeeded, others failed, and in certain cases, individuals voluntarily participated in criminal acts. Yet I remained entirely beyond their reach, leaving them with nothing whatsoever to substantiate their false accusations. A striking example is the narco-video, recorded before the 2013 presidential elections, showing senior members of the Honduran radical leftist Libre Party negotiating bribes with traffickers, including one who later testified against me in court without offering a shred of proof. The DOJ and New York prosecutors have had this narco-video since 2013, yet never acted on it. In the same video, recorded just days before the 2013 general elections, these narcotraffickers referred to the radical left party, Libre, in their own words, "here we have no alternative" and "this is the only one." They also urged other traffickers to provide financial support to the Libre Party to prevent the National Party's success and my electoral victory, fully aware that if I prevailed, their cartels would be dismantled through extraditions and rigorous law enforcement, as indeed occurred during my tenure. In the same recording, they signaled that a Libre victory would roll back the extradition and the laws and policies I had implemented, as Speaker of Congress, to curtail their operations. If clear, recorded evidence was deemed insufficient to prosecute them, how can my conviction, built on nothing but the words of vengeful criminals, be justified? The cases involving high-ranking officials of the radical left, Libre Party, were not prosecuted, while mine advanced only because the Biden-Harris DOJ pursued a political agenda to empower its ideological allies in Honduras, the radical left Libre Party, aligned with the Venezuelan regime and consistent with the Biden-Harris administration's regional agenda. It is a bitter irony that while I risked my life and my family's to implement iron-clad policies against drug trafficking and organized crime, I am now unjustly condemned without evidence. Since I was a congressman, Speaker of Congress, and throughout my presidential administration, there exists a substantial body of evidence demonstrating both my innocence and the links of certain current Honduran officials with narcotraffickers, evidence that was deliberately blocked by the prosecution and the judge during my rigged trial. My defense was further compromised by ineffective assistance of counsel, as my retained lawyer was ill, failed to subpoena crucial witnesses, and had broken communication with me, while the court-appointed counsel was given only three weeks to prepare for trial. Classified and unclassified documents held by multiple U.S. agencies, including the Department of State, Southern Command, DEA, CIA, Department of the Treasury, and Homeland Security, attest to the unprecedented cooperation I maintained with your administration in dismantling cartels, extraditing drug traffickers to the U.S., and combating organized crime. These records, together with the International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports transmitted to Congress by three U.S. presidents, confirm the historic results we achieved. During my administration, I championed key security initiatives such as the constitutional reform to allow extradition, the Asset Forfeiture Law, and the Special Law Against Money Laundering, measures so feared by traffickers that they exposed me to death threats and narco-terrorism on a scale comparable to Colombia during the 80s and 90s. Considering this proven record of cooperation and reform, and the fact that I undertook measures no one else had dared to implement, any indictment of this nature should have been grounded in undeniable and irrefutable evidence, as has been the standard in comparable cases. Yet despite this record of cooperation and reform, I was wrongfully sentenced to 45 years based on the uncorroborated lies of confessed criminals. By their own admission in my trial, these “witnesses” had nothing but their “word”, no videos, no recordings, no transactions, no documents, no 2</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="g-doc-page g-doc-page_image" data-hasannotations="false" id="page-3"> <div class="g-doc-page_inner clearfix"> <div class="g-doc-page_paper doc-shell"> <img alt="Page 3 of 4" aria-describedby="page-3-text" class="g-doc-image lazyload" data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/09df932101ced3a6/3/output-3.png" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png" width="1700"/> <noscript> <img alt="Page 3 of 4" aria-describedby="page-3-text" class="g-doc-image" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/09df932101ced3a6/3/output-3.png" width="1700"/> </noscript> <p class="g-doc-text" id="page-3-text">proof of any kind. Several of these same criminals now walk free, some on U.S. streets, as a result of the actions of the Biden-Harris DOJ. When we served as presidents, we stood together as allies. In 2019, under your leadership, we signed the historic Third Safe Country Agreement. Our countries built an unprecedented regional partnership to stop illegal migration and strengthen asylum protections. You congratulated me publicly, saying: “I want to congratulate you and your country, and I want to say you have done a fantastic job. My people work with you so well, and one thing they came out more than anything else, they were saying how much you love your country, and we are going to be with you, we are going to work together and we will make it even better for both, the United States and your country, and the others that have been so helpful. So, I just want to thank you very much. It's a great honor to be with you and to be with your wife." After this agreement, attacks from members of Biden's campaign grew stronger, opposing the joint progress we had achieved. Mr. President, you and I also shared something deeper, a profound love for our countries. We are men of faith, patriots, willing to risk our lives for the safety of our people. You were targeted, and by the grace of God, you survived. I, too, faced real threats and assassination attempts from powerful criminal organizations, yet neither of us stepped back. Instead, we doubled down, determined to leave our nations more secure than we found them. The fight against narcotics was central to my presidency. The approach you have taken against traffickers reflects similar strategies I pursued in office, demonstrating our shared vision in regional security. My administration also sought to stop drugs before they reached our border, preventing the blood, corruption, and death they bring to our nations. For this reason, in 2019, I expelled the Venezuelan ambassador after urging that regime to take action to prevent drug planes and ships from leaving its territory, and to end its repression of the Venezuelan people. In addition, my administration created a protective “air shield" to intercept and neutralize narco-flights from South America, using our Military Forces when necessary. As your opponents have done to you, I too was labeled a dictator, simply for creating the Military Police and deploying the Military Forces to restore public order in a country that then had the highest murder rate in the world. Yet the irony remains, I am condemned for the very actions I took to defend my people and protect our nations. You once told me directly at the 2019 Israeli American Council National Summit: "We're delighted to have with us, President Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras, and the First Lady of Honduras. And I have to tell you, thank you, sir, that President Hernandez is working with the United States very closely. You know what's going on on our southern border. And we're winning after years and years of losing. We're stopping drugs at a level that has never happened.” Those words meant a great deal to me, my family, and the Honduran people. They reaffirmed our shared mission: to defend democracy, secure our borders, and confront the criminal networks threatening our nations. In addition to our shared mission, our shared beliefs are why, at the United Nations, I supported your decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an action I mirrored by moving the Honduran Embassy, standing firmly alongside you and Israel. I want to take the opportunity to congratulate you on your efforts and advancements to secure peace in the world, particularly in the 3</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="g-doc-page g-doc-page_image" data-hasannotations="false" id="page-4"> <div class="g-doc-page_inner clearfix"> <div class="g-doc-page_paper doc-shell"> <img alt="Page 4 of 4" aria-describedby="page-4-text" class="g-doc-image lazyload" data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/09df932101ced3a6/4/output-4.png" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png" width="1700"/> <noscript> <img alt="Page 4 of 4" aria-describedby="page-4-text" class="g-doc-image" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/09df932101ced3a6/4/output-4.png" width="1700"/> </noscript> <p class="g-doc-text" id="page-4-text">Middle East. A peace deal many thought was impossible to achieve, but you and your team made it happen. We continue to pray for an end to suffering and for peace to become a lasting reality in the Middle East. My belief in democracy is also why I openly condemned the Maduro regime in Venezuela, standing against its fraud and repression even when this provoked fierce attacks from the same radical left leadership of the Libre Party in Honduras. These are the same figures who governed from 2006 to 2009, a period during which our nation began its tragic rise as the main bridge for drug trafficking from South to North America, ultimately resulting in the highest murder rate in the world. They opposed the extradition reforms I led and were later recorded in the 2013 narco-video with traffickers, and have since returned to power, manipulating the extradition treaty for convenience and undoing the progress we built with the United States. Today, I find myself unjustly imprisoned, separated from my wife of more than three decades and our children, who are devoted Christians and law-abiding citizens. Over the past years, my family has endured political persecution, threats to their lives reported by the FBI, and harassment as a direct result of this injustice. They have denied their visas and, consequently, the simple and fundamental right to visit me. This cruelty is not only unjust, it is profoundly inhumane. In light of these ongoing injustices and the clear case of lawfare by the Biden-Harris administration, I respectfully request a review of my case in the interest of justice. I am confident that such a review will reveal overwhelming evidence of my innocence and expose the grave injustice that only you have the authority and power to correct through a pardon. I am mindful of the words you spoke at your inauguration, that “never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents," and that under your leadership, justice will be fair, equal, and impartial. Based on those principles that you expressed with such clarity and firmness, I humbly ask that justice be done. Mr. President, our shared fight for secure borders, against drugs, for the safety of our people, and for the defense of democracy has come at a great personal cost to both of us. Yet history will remember that we stood firm. I place my trust that, with your leadership, the truth will prevail. I cannot remain silent, for silence would betray the truth, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words echo with painful clarity in my life today: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Thank you for your time, your attention and your commitment to justice. God bless you. God bless America. God bless Hondura With the highest respect, 4</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="g-img-overlay_container" id="g-img-overlay"> <div class="g-img-overlay"> <div class="g-img-overlay_inner"> <img alt="Image of the selected page" class="g-img-image" src="https://static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png"/> <div id="g-img-close"> <span class="g-img-icon-text">Close</span> <span class="g-img-icon g-close">×</span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>