Federal prosecutors are expected to bring new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, for allegedly torturing Americans who were held in Venezuelan prisons, according to multiple sources familiar with the case. The sources said that additional people could be charged in their role for the torture of more than a dozen Americans who were wrongfully detained by the Venezuelan government while Maduro was in power. One source said the new charges could be announced as soon as Thursday.
Barry Pollack, an attorney for Maduro, told CBS News that he has not been provided any notice that additional charges could be coming. Flores is due in federal court on Thursday in the Southern District of New York for a bond hearing, and a trial date has been tentatively set for June 2027. CNN was first to report the potential new charges.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Maduro and Flores were indicted by a federal grand jury in January on charges stemming from what prosecutors said was his role in a scheme to import "thousands of tons" of cocaine into the United States and enrich themselves, their family and senior members of the Venezuelan government. The U.S. military took the couple into custody in an overnight operation and brought them to the U.S. to face the charges.
They have pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said Maduro was at the "forefront of the corruption" and say that he and his associates worked with drug traffickers and narco-terrorists to flood the U.S. with drugs. Maduro faces four charges: narco-terrorism conspiracy; cocaine importation conspiracy; possession of machineguns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices.
The case against them was brought in the Southern District of New York, where Maduro and 14 others were first indicted in March 2020, during the first Trump administration. Maduro and his wife have asked U.S. Hellerstein to dismiss the drug trafficking indictment against them on the grounds that they have immunity as the leaders of a foreign country.
The judge has not heard arguments on those motions yet. In September, Alex Saab, a former Minister of Industry in Maduro's government pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering tied to an alleged bribery conspiracy, and agreed to cooperate in ongoing federal investigations into the regime after being deported to the U.S. from Venezuela. In May, CBS News reported that federal prosecutors in Miami were ordered to open a new criminal investigation into Maduro amid some concerns that the pending prosecution against him is weak.
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