The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, was taken this Monday with his wife, Cilia Flores, to the federal court in southern New York, in Manhattan, where the first hearing before the judge will take place, initially scheduled for 12:00 local time.
Maduro and his wife were captured last Saturday in Caracas and later transferred to the United States. This morning they were transferred from the Brooklyn Metropolitan Federal Prison (MDC) to a field on the outskirts of the city, where they boarded a helicopter that landed at a heliport near the court.
Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrives at a Manhattan heliport, as he heads towards a New York City courthouse for an initial appearance to face US federal charges including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.
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Subsequently, both were driven in a convoy made up of five vehicles and under a strong police escort to the court, according to images broadcast by US media. The police, meanwhile, kept several streets in the surrounding area closed during the security operation, according to the agency. EFE in a report.
First appearance
Guarded by agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Venezuelan president descended with some difficulty from the helicopter and had to be helped by several agents to get into an armored vehicle that took him to the court.
This Monday’s appearance will be Maduro’s first before a US court, after the Department of Justice made public last Saturday a formal accusation against him for crimes related to drug trafficking, originally presented in 2020.
According to cnnMaduro will first be informed of the charges against him and given the opportunity to enter a plea of guilty or innocent. The judge will then ensure that you have been assigned a defense lawyer and will then consider bail, although it is unlikely that this will be granted, considering the case.
Finally, the judge must set a schedule for the case and possibly a trial date.
Formal accusation, including his wife
This expanded indictment reiterates the charges against Maduro, the main defendant of conspiracy for narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to use these weapons.
For the first time, the accusation includes Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife, whom the Prosecutor’s Office points out, according to its investigation, for her alleged involvement in the coordination of meetings and the logistics of the network.
According to prosecutors, his incorporation expands the scope of the case and supports the hypothesis that drug trafficking was part of a network organized from the highest levels of Venezuelan power.
The case is located in the Southern District of New York and is being instructed by federal judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, 92 years old. It was also learned this Monday that the lawyer appointed for Maduro’s initial appearance was David Wikstrom, as reported by cnn a person familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, Mark Donnelly, a Houston lawyer specializing in economic crimes and former Justice Department prosecutor, notified the court that he will represent Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. Donnelly’s biography in his signature indicates that he speaks Spanish, according to the US network.
