By Luc Cohen and Jack Queen
NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) – Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores will go on trial on U.S. drug trafficking charges starting on June 1, 2027, a judge said on Wednesday.
Maduro wore beige prison garb as he was led into a Manhattan courtroom by U.S. marshals for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in one of the most consequential criminal cases in recent U.S. history.
U.S. commandos captured Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, at their heavily guarded home in Caracas during a January 3 nighttime military raid ordered by President Donald Trump.
They were brought to New York, where they previously had been indicted on charges of using their leadership positions in the oil-rich South American country to facilitate cocaine shipments. They have pleaded not guilty.
Defense lawyer Barry Pollack said on Wednesday he would seek to dismiss the case on the basis that Maduro should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.
In a court filing on Tuesday night, prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office and Maduro’s defense lawyers proposed a June 2027 start to the trial. Hellerstein must ultimately set the schedule, and both parties said they may seek adjustments.
Maduro faces four felony counts including narcoterrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy. He could face a life sentence if convicted.
HEAD-OF-STATE IMMUNITY
Before the trial, Maduro is expected to file legal motions to seek to have the case dismissed. On Wednesday, Hellerstein set a November 17 hearing for arguments over those motions.
During Maduro’s first court appearance on January 5, Pollack suggested he could also challenge the indictment on the basis that Maduro’s capture may not have been legal.
Maduro, a socialist who had an antagonistic relationship with the United States while leading Venezuela from 2013 until his capture, referred to himself as a “prisoner of war” during his January 5 appearance. Maduro has long accused the United States of seeking his ouster to gain greater control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.
The United States has called Maduro a corrupt dictator whose mismanagement of the economy led to an economic collapse, and accused him of rigging his reelection votes in 2018 and 2024. It stopped recognizing him as Venezuela’s legitimate president in 2019.
In an advisory opinion ahead of the January raid, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said it would be lawful for Trump to unilaterally order the operation because it served an important national interest and did not rise to the level of a war that would require congressional authorization.
In Tuesday’s filing, lawyers for both sides said Maduro could file a second round of legal motions by January 11, 2027, after prosecutors hand over any classified evidence for the defense’s review.
U.S.-VENEZUELAN RELATIONS IMPROVE
Maduro was last in court on March 26 for a hearing over the U.S. government’s prohibition on Venezuela’s government paying Maduro’s legal fees. The dispute was resolved a month later when the U.S. government agreed to modify its financial sanctions on Venezuela to allow the government to pay the fees.
Venezuela has been run since Maduro’s capture by his former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who has established closer ties with the Trump administration.
The United States has eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, and foreign companies have expanded oil and gas projects in the country.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel and Will Dunham)
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