NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors are expected to bring new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, for allegedly torturing Americans who were held in Venezuelan prisons. An announcement regarding the new charges could come as soon as Thursday.

The new charges relate to the alleged wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens in Venezuelan prisons during the time Maduro was in power. Investigators have discussed charging several additional people for their alleged role in the torture of Americans.

Cilia Flores is due in federal court in the Southern District of New York on Thursday for a bond hearing. Flores's lawyer is expected to ask that she be moved to house arrest ahead of trial. A trial date for Cilia Flores has been tentatively set for June 2027.

Maduro and Flores were indicted by a federal grand jury in January on charges stemming from what prosecutors said was their role in a scheme to import thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States. The U.S. military took Maduro and Flores into custody in an overnight operation in January and brought them to the U.S. to face charges. Maduro faces four charges: narco-terrorism conspiracy; cocaine importation conspiracy; possession of machine guns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. They have asked U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to dismiss the drug trafficking indictment against them on the grounds that they have immunity as the leaders of a foreign country. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has not heard arguments on the motions to dismiss yet.

In September, Alex Saab, a former minister of industry in Maduro's government, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering tied to an alleged bribery conspiracy and agreed to cooperate in ongoing federal investigations. Venezuela has been led since Maduro's capture by his former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez.

Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, who were freed in a prisoner swap in October 2022, alleged in a lawsuit that they were subjected to waterboarding, electrocution, threats of sexual assault, use of mind-altering drugs, and periods of solitary confinement while detained in Venezuela. Heath, a US Marine veteran, attempted suicide while he was detained in Venezuela. Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Jose Zambrano and Jose Luis Zambrano, members of the 'CITGO 6,' said they were subjected to torture while imprisoned in Venezuela. A United Nations report found that the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) in Venezuela 'routinely resorted' to torture practices including electric shocks, suffocation with plastic bags, waterboarding, beatings, sexual violence, water and food deprivation, stress positions and exposure to extreme temperatures.

Why It Matters

Cilia Flores served as president of the National Assembly of Venezuela from 2006 to 2011. Cilia Flores is First Lady of Venezuela from 2013 to 2026.

The U.S. military operation that captured Maduro and Flores began around 2 a.m. local time on January 3, involving bombings of infrastructure in northern Venezuela to suppress air defenses. The U.S. military operation in Venezuela resulted in casualties. In mid-December, the U.S. began intercepting and seizing crude oil tankers, imposed a naval quarantine on sanctioned vessels transporting oil to or from Venezuela, and announced plans to designate the Venezuelan government a Foreign Terrorist Organization.