A federal judge has awarded $314 million in damages to three American citizens who alleged they were tortured while imprisoned in Venezuela as part of what the judge described as a "criminal enterprise" led by former President Nicolás Maduro. The judgment was issued after the Venezuelan officials and others named in the lawsuit failed to respond.
The three men—Jerrel Kenemore, Jason Saad, and Edgar Marval—were freed in December 2023 as part of a secret exchange with the Biden administration for Alex Saab, a businessman accused by U.S. officials of being Maduro's financial facilitator and who was awaiting trial in the U.S. on money laundering charges.
Last year, the Americans sued several top Venezuelan officials, including acting President Delcy Rodríguez, claiming they endured physical and psychological torture, including electrocution, stress positions, and beatings, which continue to cause them anguish. Allegations of similar abuses are also under investigation by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court.
Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Miami issued a default judgment against Maduro, Saab, and five other individual defendants, as well as the "Cartel of the Suns," a group of high-ranking military officials accused of drug smuggling. The ruling came after the defendants did not respond to the lawsuit. Rodríguez was excluded from the ruling because her legal team argued she holds immunity as a head of state, a claim disputed by the plaintiffs.
This case represents the largest judgment to date among several lawsuits filed on behalf of Americans imprisoned in Venezuela. The plaintiffs sought damages under the Anti-Terrorism Act, a federal law that permits American victims of foreign terror groups to seize the assets of their perpetrators.
"The kidnappings," Judge Gayles wrote in his ruling, "were just one of many crimes committed in order to support Maduro’s dictatorial rule over Venezuela, which in turn allowed the Maduro Criminal Conspiracy to earn ill-gotten gains."
Saab, who is back in U.S. custody facing new charges after being handed over by Rodríguez in May, had his lawyer decline to comment. Lawyers for Rodríguez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Each of the American plaintiffs reportedly went to Venezuela unaware they would be accused of spying and used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the U.S. Kenemore, a computer professional from Fort Worth, Texas, was abducted in 2022 near the Colombian border and handed over to Venezuelan authorities, spending 643 days in jail. Saad, originally from Alabama, was working in construction in Venezuela for several years before his arrest. Marval owned a company in Florida and conducted business in Venezuela. All three were held by Venezuela's military intelligence police.
The "Cartel of the Suns" was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration prior to a significant military deployment in the Caribbean that led to Maduro's capture in January on drug trafficking charges in New York.