Overview
- Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores entered not-guilty pleas in Manhattan to a superseding indictment alleging narco-terrorism, cocaine-importation conspiracy and weapons offenses.
- Barry J. Pollack appeared at the arraignment and said he will contest what he called Maduro’s “military abduction,” with potential arguments over head-of-state immunity.
- U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein scheduled the next court date for March 17, and both defendants remain in federal custody after declining to seek bail.
- Flores is represented by former Justice Department prosecutor Mark Donnelly, who filed his appearance as she told the court she was “completely innocent.”
- Pollack is a veteran trial lawyer known for negotiating Julian Assange’s 2024 plea agreement that led to Assange’s release from prison.