The federal judge Alvin Hellerstein set June 1, 2027 as the start date for the trial against former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who are accused of drug trafficking in the federal court of Manhattan, as reported by Reuters from New York.
The decision was made during a roughly 20-minute hearing—the third since Maduro's capture on January 3, 2026—during which both defendants appeared wearing beige prison uniforms. The proposal for that date was jointly submitted on Tuesday night by the Southern District of New York's prosecution and the defense attorneys.
Maduro and Flores have been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since their arrest, and both pleaded not guilty at their initial appearance on January 5, 2026.
The former Venezuelan president faces four charges: conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine to the United States, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess those same weapons. Cilia Flores is facing charges related to drug importation and possession of weapons. All charges carry penalties of up to life imprisonment.
During the hearing, Maduro's defense attorney, Barry Pollack, announced that he will file a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that his client enjoys immunity as the head of a sovereign state. The defense has until September 2, 2026 to present that argument.
The agreed procedural calendar establishes that the U.S. government will deliver most of the classified material in November 2026, and the legal teams will have time until early 2027 to submit new motions before the trial officially begins. Judge Hellerstein had already rejected previous attempts to dismiss the charges.
The process unfolds in a highly complex diplomatic context. The Trump administration requested judicial immunity for the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, in a civil lawsuit in Florida, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the start of transition talks in Venezuela for August 2026.
This complexity is compounded by a potential legal obstacle: a 1922 bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and Venezuela includes an arbitration clause that, if Caracas formally invokes it, could require the process to be suspended. Legal expert David Sloss noted that "it would not be particularly surprising if the dispute were temporarily removed from the courts and referred to arbitration."
In April 2026, Washington modified the sanctions on Venezuela to allow the Venezuelan government to finance the legal defense of Maduro and Flores, a decision that reflects the tension between the judicial and diplomatic goals of the Trump administration regarding Caracas.
If the schedule holds, the trial that could result in a life sentence for the former Venezuelan president will begin on June 1, 2027, nearly a year and a half after his capture.
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