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2w ago

Judge Alvin Hellerstein to Preside Over Maduro Case in New York

The veteran Manhattan jurist now steers a long‑running narco‑terrorism prosecution entering a contested pretrial phase over the legality of the capture and the court’s authority.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein will preside over Nicolás Maduro's trial following his capture by US military.
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President Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores appear in a Manhattan courthouse on Monday
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Overview

  • Captured in Caracas and flown to New York, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court on Monday.
  • Both defendants remain detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as the case proceeds under Senior U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, 92.
  • The indictment charges narco‑terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and a related conspiracy, with counts extending to close associates and family.
  • Pretrial motions are expected to challenge the legality of Maduro’s capture and the court’s jurisdiction, with the next hearing reported for March 17.
  • Prosecutors are poised to rely on cooperating witnesses from related SDNY cases, including former intelligence chief Hugo Armando Carvajal, whose guilty plea last summer is cited as key context.