Judge Enters Not Guilty Plea for Nicolas Maduro on Torture Charges
The former Venezuelan leaders face a mandatory minimum of 50 years in prison if convicted of directing state-sponsored violence against detainees.
Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in Manhattan federal court on October 15, 2026. They faced newly unsealed charges of conspiracy to commit torture.
Maduro, appearing shackled at the ankles, twice refused to enter a formal plea. He stated through an interpreter that the indictment rested on false accusations and false testimony. Maduro added that he rejected the document in its entirety.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein cut Maduro off and formally entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Flores entered a plea of not guilty through an interpreter. She told the court that she was completely innocent.
Federal prosecutors unsealed the superseding indictment on October 8, 2026, under the federal extraterritorial torture statute. The indictment accuses Maduro and Flores of directing a state-sponsored campaign of violence between 2013 and 2026. Prosecutors alleged the campaign abused scores of detainees, including three U.S. citizens.
The filing alleges methods including severe beatings, electric shocks, asphyxiation, forced starvation, simulated drowning and psychological torture. Prosecutors stated that Maduro personally recommended torture techniques and monitored the treatment of individual detainees. The indictment also alleges that Maduro threatened the child of a prisoner as psychological abuse.
If convicted on all charges, Maduro and Flores each face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 50 years. Prosecutors argued the defendants used torture and arbitrary detention to suppress political opposition. They said the apparatus also protected state-connected drug trafficking networks.
Defense attorney Barry Pollack said Maduro denied all allegations and looked forward to his day in court. Pollack represents Maduro, while attorney Mark Donnelly represents Flores. Maduro is 63 years old, and news reports have listed Flores as either 69 or 70 years old.
Defense attorneys maintained in pending motions that the court must dismiss the prosecution on sovereign immunity grounds. They argued that Maduro and Flores were the head of state and first lady of a foreign sovereign country.
U.S. military special forces captured Maduro and Flores in Caracas during an early January 2026 nighttime raid. The military flew them to New York to face federal charges. The couple originally faced charges including narcoterrorism, weapons offenses and conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States.
Following the raid, Washington recognized an interim government in Caracas headed by Delcy Rodríguez. The International Criminal Court previously investigated Maduro's government for alleged crimes against humanity. That investigation examined crackdowns against political opponents in Venezuela.
Judge Hellerstein rescheduled the trial to begin on June 14, 2027, pushing it back two weeks. The delay accommodates filings related to the new torture charges. Pollack described the schedule as aggressive, but said both parties could abide by the date.
Pretrial hearings are set for November 17, 2026, and December 17, 2026. The hearings will address defense arguments regarding sovereign immunity and dismissal of the indictment.
