Cilia Flores, wife of Venezuela’s Maduro, to press for release from US jail

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Cilia Flores, the wife of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is expected to appear in a US court on Thursday to urge a federal judge to release her from jail for health reasons while she awaits her drug trafficking trial next year.

At a hearing set to start at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) in Manhattan federal court, Flores’ lawyers are expected to ask US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to grant bail so their client can undergo a cardiac procedure and recover in a more comfortable environment. 

The lawyers proposed moving her to a residence in the New York City area with round-the-clock private security, and said she is not a danger to the community. The lawyers also said Venezuela’s government, which the US authorized to pay Flores’ and Maduro’s legal fees, would cover the costs.

Separately, a US official told Reuters on Wednesday that Maduro and Flores were expected to face new criminal charges over the alleged torture of Americans held in Venezuela. The charges could be announced as soon as Thursday, said the official, who had been briefed on the investigation. 

Flores, 69, and Maduro, 63, were captured by the US military on January 3 in their Caracas home and brought to New York to face an indictment accusing them of abusing their positions of power to allow drug traffickers to ship cocaine.

The surprise raid ended the socialist Maduro’s 13 years in power in oil-rich Venezuela, which has since boosted cooperation with Washington under the leadership of Maduro’s former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. 

Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to the drug charges and have been held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since their capture. Their trial is scheduled for June 1, 2027.

Prosecutors in the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office oppose Flores’ release.

They said Flores has received adequate medical care at the detention center, and if released poses an “extreme” risk of flight and danger to the public, including possible witness intimidation.

Prosecutors also said other judges have found it unfair to let some criminal defendants pay for their own out-of-jail supervision, because defendants of lesser means cannot afford it.

Hellerstein’s bail decision will not affect Flores’ trial or potential punishment. If convicted, she faces a mandatory minimum 40-year sentence.

Flores was Venezuela’s attorney general and led its National Assembly before becoming first lady. US prosecutors say she took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a large drug trafficker. 

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)