Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and U.S. federal prosecutors on July 21 proposed a June 2027 start date for Maduro’s U.S. criminal trial on drug trafficking charges.
A court filing showed the joint proposal ahead of a hearing on July 22 in Manhattan federal court.
The filing gave a rough outline of the possible next steps in one of the most significant criminal cases in recent U.S. history.
The trial date will ultimately be decided by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. The parties wrote in the filing that they could request changes to the schedule.
American special forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas during a raid in the early hours of Jan. 3. They were brought to New York to face the charges, of which they have pleaded not guilty.
Maduro has been charged with narcoterrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
In 2020, Maduro and 14 other Venezuelan officials were charged with narcoterrorism, corruption, drug trafficking, and other charges in New York City, Miami, and Washington.
According to the filing, both sides proposed a Sept. 2 deadline for Maduro’s initial legal motions to dismiss the case, citing that he should be free from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.
After prosecutors transfer any classified evidence for the defense’s review, Maduro would then file a second round of legal motions by Jan. 11, according to the filing.
Maduro led Venezuela between 2013 and this past January. The Trump administration accused Maduro of participating in a narcoterrorism scheme.
During his Jan. 5 court appearance, where he and his wife pleaded not guilty, Maduro referred to himself as a “prisoner of war.” He has long blamed the United States for seeking his ouster to get more control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
The United States has labeled Maduro a corrupt dictator, saying his handling of the Venezuelan economy led to an economic downturn, and has accused him of rigging his reelection votes in 2018 and 2024. In 2019, Washington stopped recognizing him as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
A federal jail in Brooklyn has held Maduro and Flores since they were brought to the United States.
Reuters and T.J. Muscaro contributed to this report.
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