Captured Venezuelan dictator Maduro faces New York federal judge after dramatic palace raid
Nicolas Maduro, the dethroned Venezuelan dictator indicted on major drug trafficking and weapons charges in the United States, is expected in a federal court in New York Monday for his arraignment, days after American forces captured him in his own presidential palace.
The hearing, in which Maduro will be formally told the charges against him, is set for noon. His wife, Cilia Flores, was arrested in the raid and is also due in court. Like her husband, she was a high-level official in Venezuela’s socialist regime.
Maduro faces four charges: narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
“For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States,” federal prosecutors wrote in a superseding indictment unveiled over the weekend.
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Flores faces three: cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Similar proceedings are usually short. There won’t be any witness testimony, the defendants will have a chance to enter their pleas, and the judge will set the next court date and address the subject of pretrial release.
Bail is highly unlikely, according to legal experts.
“I think I have a better chance of winning the next Power Ball,” David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area defense attorney, told Fox News Digital. “When [former Panama dictator Manuel] Noriega was arraigned, he didn’t get bail.”
Noriega was similarly deposed by U.S. forces in 1989 on racketeering and drug trafficking charges.
Maduro is being held in the same federal jail in Brooklyn as accused assassin Luigi Mangione.
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“Years ago, he was indicted in U.S. federal court for narco-terrorism,” said Royal Oakes, a Los Angeles-based lawyer and legal analyst.
Federal prosecutors secured a grand jury indictment in 2020. More recently, the government placed a $50 million bounty on his head as President Donald Trump urged him to step down.
The selection of New York’s Southern District Court to handle the case could have a significant impact on how it plays out, Oakes said.
New Yorkers just elected an openly socialist mayor, but he said the success of Maduro’s capture without any American casualties could also play a role.
“The outcome of the mission could also shape public opinion and thus a jury verdict,” Oakes said.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
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