Judge Alvin Hellerstein set a June 1, 2027 trial date as Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores continue to contest the case and prepare challenges including sovereign immunity.
A U.S. judge on Wednesday set a June 1, 2027 trial date for Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores in their New York drug case, after attorneys on both sides requested the schedule. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein announced the date during a brief court hearing. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty and are contesting the legitimacy of the case. Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, said he expects to challenge both the legality of the January operation that brought Maduro to the United States and the case itself on sovereign immunity grounds. Maduro faces four counts, including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy, and could face life in prison if convicted. The prosecution stems from allegations that Maduro used his position as head of state as part of a conspiracy to traffic cocaine into the United States. Maduro said at his January arraignment, “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.” The case had previously drawn a dispute over legal funding after U.S. sanctions blocked Venezuela from paying defense lawyers, a problem later resolved when the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control allowed Venezuelan funds to be used for the couple’s defense.