NEW YORK CITY — Nicolás Maduro is scheduled to appear in a New York City courtroom on Wednesday for a pretrial hearing in his federal drug trafficking case. The hearing is set for 12 p.m. EDT in Manhattan federal court, where U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein is overseeing the case.

The Justice Department and Maduro’s defense team filed a joint proposal to begin the trial in June 2027. The joint filing proposed that Maduro’s first round of legal motions to dismiss the case would be due on September 2.

The filing proposed that Maduro would file a second round of legal motions by January 11, after prosecutors hand over any classified evidence for the defense's review. Federal prosecutors allege Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores conspired to move thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S. and used Venezuela’s police force to assist drug trafficking organizations.

Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores have pleaded not guilty to federal narco-terrorism charges. Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores face potential life sentences if convicted.

Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn since January. U.S. Special Forces captured Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores in Caracas during a nighttime raid in January.

Defense attorneys have indicated they will seek to dismiss the charges and argue Maduro’s January capture violated a 100-year-old extradition treaty between the U.S. and Venezuela. Maduro's defense team argues he should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.

Barry Pollack is a lawyer for Nicolás Maduro. Anna Estevao has joined Nicolás Maduro's defense team.

Anna Estevao recently helped defend Sean “Diddy” Combs and cross-examined several key witnesses during his federal trial. Anna Estevao helped Sean “Diddy” Combs secure acquittals on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

In April, the U.S. government adjusted sanctions to allow the Venezuelan government to pay Nicolás Maduro’s legal fees. The White House has described Maduro’s arrest as a foreign policy “triumph.” President Donald Trump’s administration has defended the raid as a “surgical law enforcement operation.” During a January court appearance, Nicolás Maduro referred to himself as a “prisoner of war.”

"I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country," Maduro said. Nicolás Maduro is 63 years old, and Cilia Flores is 69 years old.

The United States stopped recognizing Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president in 2019. Nicolás Maduro led Venezuela from 2013 until his capture.

The case involves high-level allegations that a former head of state used national police forces to facilitate international drug trafficking. The joint proposal for a 2027 trial date indicates a complex legal process involving classified evidence and multiple rounds of motions to dismiss.

The defense strategy combines treaty-based arguments against the capture method with claims of sovereign immunity. The involvement of the U.S. government in adjusting sanctions to permit payment of legal fees from Venezuela shows the diplomatic and financial complexities surrounding the prosecution.