Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will make his first appearance in a federal courtroom Monday in Manhattan, two days after the Trump administration seized him and his wife in a military operation critics have called a violation of international and U.S. law.
After their capture, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were flown by the military to New York to face a Manhattan Federal Court superseding indictment on narcotics trafficking and terrorism charges.
The deposed Venezuelan leader “sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” according to the indictment.
It wasn’t clear Sunday who would be representing Maduro and his wife.
The hearing is set to take place before Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein at noon Monday, according to court officials.
In 2014, Hellerstein, a Clinton appointee, was assigned to preside over the prosecution, which stems from a 2011 case against a Maduro associate. Federal charges were first brought against Maduro more than six years ago.
Hellerstein, 92, has presided over a number of Trump-related lawsuits, last spring ruling against his administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans.
President Trump’s former criminal lawyer Emil Bove previously served as an assistant prosecutor on the case. Trump appointed Bove to a top Justice Department role after taking office in January 2025 and over the summer successfully nominated him for a lifetime judicial appointment on the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Trump’s order to grab Maduro and Flores from their presidential palace in Caracas, the South American country’s capital, was met with support and celebration from Venezuelans living in New York City.
The attack, undertaken early Saturday without congressional approval, was condemned by legal experts and, according to a Venezuelan official who spoke to The New York Times, left 40 dead, including civilians. There were no American casualties.
Maduro and his wife were taken to the MDC Brooklyn federal jail in Sunset Park on Saturday night, which also houses accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione. Disgraced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was held at the facility until October, when he was transferred to a New Jersey prison to begin serving his 50-month sentence following his conviction on prostitution offenses.
Maduro and Flores will be housed at MDC at least until their Monday arraignment.
At a news conference Saturday, Trump said that the U.S. will be running Venezuela until there is a “safe, proper and judicious transition” and that U.S. oil companies will be brought in to work the country’s oil fields.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that that didn’t mean immediate ground troop deployments but rather an “oil quarantine” naval blockade, a pressure campaign and a threat to send in troops if Venezuela’s new leadership does not cooperate.
