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First Court Date Scheduled for Nicolas Maduro — Here’s When


Ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro’s first court appearance has just been scheduled.

His arraignment will happen before a federal court in Manhattan tomorrow — Monday, January 5th at 12 PM.

His wife, Cilia Flores, will also appear in court tomorrow for her (alleged) involvement in her husband’s crimes.

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COURT DATE SET: Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro will be arraigned in federal court in New York City at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, authorities announced.

Maduro faces multiple charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses following his capture in a daring U.S. military operation.

Maduro is facing a four-count indictment, which includes conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism.

Currently, he is being held in the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

CBS News has more details:

Maduro and Flores arrived in New York on Saturday afternoon, hours after they were taken from their home in Caracas and transported to the USS Iwo Jima warship before being flown to New York to face criminal charges.

Maduro arrived at Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, at about 8:52 p.m. ET on Saturday. He was not slated to be housed in his own wing as of Saturday evening. His wife’s confinement status as of Saturday night is unknown.

MDC is one of the few detention centers in the U.S. with the capacity for high-security defendants. It is known for housing other high-profile defendants like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Luigi Mangione, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ghislaine Maxwell.

In a superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of New York against Maduro, members of his family and his cabinet, the U.S. is accusing the South American leader of conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and to import cocaine. He is also accused of possession of and conspiracy to possess “Machineguns and Destructive Devices,” according to the indictment unsealed Saturday by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said.

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The charges appear to be the same as those that were filed in a 2020 indictment of Maduro and several key aides.

The indictment, prepared by New York U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, says: “For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States,” before alleging that Maduro “is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.”

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