Overview
- A federal judge directed Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores to remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after they pleaded not guilty on Jan. 5 to drug trafficking and related charges.
- MDC Brooklyn is the nation’s largest federal pretrial facility, with capacity for roughly 1,600 people, and it is the only New York City site designated for federal defendants awaiting trial.
- The jail has a longstanding record of complaints about violence, overcrowding, poor medical care, and unsanitary food and facilities, with high-profile detainees describing conditions such as spoiled meals, raw sewage, and vermin.
- The Bureau of Prisons acknowledges aging infrastructure and staffing challenges but denies inhumane treatment, saying it has added staff and resolved more than 700 maintenance requests following an Associated Press investigation.
- Recent history at the facility includes a 2019 winter power outage and two inmate stabbings in 2024, while legal analysts say Maduro should expect limited movement and basic jail meals.