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Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has retained Barry Pollack, the high-profile Washington trial lawyer who represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, to defend him against federal narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges following his dramatic capture by US forces in Venezuela.
Court filings Monday morning revealed Pollack's entry into the case as Maduro, 63, arrived in New York under heavy security for his first appearance before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. The veteran attorney, who negotiated Assange's plea deal last summer, brings over 30 years of experience handling sensitive cases involving public corruption, financial crimes and national security matters.
Maduro was flown by helicopter to a Manhattan heliport before being transferred to the Daniel Patrick Manhattan United States Courthouse in an armored vehicle. Wearing a tan prison jumpsuit and orange shoes, he appeared to limp slightly as Drug Enforcement Administration agents escorted him into the building for his noon appearance.
His wife, Cilia Flores, 69, was also scheduled to appear in the same courtroom Monday on related charges. She is being represented by Mark Donnelly, a former federal prosecutor in Texas.
Pollack, a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, is widely recognized as one of the leading trial lawyers in the United States. His practice focuses on allegations of wrongdoing related to antitrust violations, government contracting fraud, and matters involving securities, taxes, healthcare and financial services.
The attorney's successful representation of Assange, which resulted in the WikiLeaks founder's immediate release from prison on espionage charges, demonstrates his capability in handling complex international cases with significant political dimensions. Legal experts expect Maduro may argue for dismissal based on head-of-state immunity, claiming he is shielded from criminal prosecution as a foreign leader.
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The 25-page federal indictment charges Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Flores faces the cocaine conspiracy and weapons counts. Maduro has previously denied the allegations.
The indictment describes Maduro as the "illegitimate ruler" of Venezuela due to fraudulent election results and accuses him of partnering with co-conspirators, narcotics traffickers and narco-terrorist groups to import tons of cocaine into the United States over more than 25 years.
"Nicolas Maduro Moros, the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking," the indictment alleges. It continues: "This cycle of narcotics-based corruption lines the pockets of Venezuelan officials and their families while also benefiting violent narco-terrorists who operate with impunity on Venezuelan soil and who help produce, protect, and transport tons of cocaine to the United States."
Among the specific allegations, the indictment claims Flores attended a meeting in approximately 2007 where she "accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to broker a meeting between a large-scale drug trafficker and the director of Venezuela's National Anti-Drug Office, Nestor Reverol Torres." The drug trafficker allegedly arranged to pay Reverol Torres a monthly bribe plus approximately $100,000 for each cocaine flight to ensure safe passage, with a portion paid to Flores, according to the indictment.
Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton, whose office is prosecuting the case, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday morning: "From the perspective of where I sit, my people and I are completely comfortable with this prosecution."
The Trump administration has faced questions about Maduro's capture on Venezuelan soil, particularly given President Donald Trump's recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted in 2024 of conspiring with drug traffickers and using his government position to facilitate cocaine shipments into the United States.
Five other defendants named in the same indictment remain outside US custody: Maduro's son Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra; Diosdado Cabello Rondon, Venezuela's interior minister; Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, a former interior minister; and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, identified as the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The case is being brought by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, known for its independence and aggressive prosecutions of complex financial and corruption cases.
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