SerpApi.Org
A federal judge has set the criminal trial of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to begin next June.
Prosecutors have accused Maduro of partnering with drug traffickers and narcoterrorists to distribute tons of cocaine to the U.S. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, ordered kidnappings and murders of people who undermined the drug-trafficking operation, according to the indictment.
Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty. During his first court appearance, Maduro, who was captured by U.S. Special Forces in a dramatic military operation in January, told the judge that he had been kidnapped and was a prisoner of war. Maduro and his wife are currently being held at a federal jail in Brooklyn.
In court on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein scheduled the trial for June 1. Before then, Maduro’s lawyers said they would file various challenges to the case. His lawyers have previously said they would make arguments about the legality of his abduction and his immunity as a head of state. The judge scheduled a hearing for November on challenges to the case.
Maduro, wearing tan jail garb, listened to the proceedings on Wednesday through headphones that provided Spanish interpretation.
The Manhattan federal courthouse where Maduro will be tried is accustomed to high-profile defendants. But the prospective trial of Maduro—who has maintained he is president of Venezuela—has little precedent because it involves a foreign leader tried on U.S. soil.
In 2024, a federal jury in Manhattan convicted former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández of helping to ship more than 500 tons of cocaine into the U.S. in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison. President Trump pardoned him last year.
Trump ordered the operation to extract Maduro earlier this year after months of tensions with the oil-rich country’s authoritarian regime. Afterward, Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was installed as acting president.
Venezuelan officials, including close allies of Maduro who are now running the interim government with the Trump administration’s support, had in the past called Maduro’s arrest a kidnapping. Spokesmen for Venezuela’s Communications Ministry didn’t immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
Write to Corinne Ramey at [email protected]