Judge Schedules Maduro Trial to Start June 1, 2027

Overview

• Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein set Nicolás Maduro’s and Cilia Flores’s criminal trial to begin on June 1, 2027 in federal court in Manhattan following a July 22 hearing.
• The court-approved timetable requires an initial round of defense motions by September 2, 2026 and a second round by January 11, 2027 after prosecutors produce any classified evidence.
• Maduro and Flores remain held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn under restrictive conditions including single-cell placement, no internet or newspapers, and 15-minute phone calls.
• Defense lead Barry Pollack has signaled that lawyers will move to dismiss or stay the case on head-of-state immunity and on the legality of the January capture while prosecutors prepare evidence for trial.
• The case stems from a U.S. operation that took Maduro and Flores from Caracas on January 3, 2026 and an indictment accusing them of narcoterrorism and major cocaine shipments to the United States with potential life sentences if convicted.