Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and prosecutors with the U.S. Justice Department have proposed a June 2027 start date for Maduro's criminal trial in the United States on drug trafficking charges. The joint proposal was submitted in a court filing ahead of a hearing scheduled for Wednesday in Manhattan federal court.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein is overseeing the case and will ultimately set the trial schedule, though the parties indicated they might seek modifications. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been held in a Brooklyn jail since their capture in January.
Special Forces apprehended Maduro and Flores in Caracas during a nighttime raid and brought them to New York to face the charges. Both have entered pleas of not guilty.