U.S. Army soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon in Manhattan federal court after prosecutors accused him of using classified information tied to the U.S. operation to capture former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Van Dyke, 38, faces charges of unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction after he won more than $400,000 by predicting the raid to capture Maduro.
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Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett released Van Dyke on a $250,000 bond following his Tuesday plea.
Federal prosecutors say Van Dyke participated in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve, the January raid that resulted in Maduro’s capture.
“Van Dyke used his access to classified information about that operation to personally profit,” said a press release from the Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, the special forces soldier placed roughly $33,034 in bets between late December 2025 and early January on contracts tied to Maduro being removed from power and U.S. forces entering Venezuela. The bets paid out more than $400,000 once the operation was carried out.
The case marks the first time the Justice Department has brought criminal insider-trading charges involving a prediction market, a fast-growing industry that has faced mounting scrutiny from federal and state lawmakers. Regulators and policymakers have debated whether such markets should be treated more like financial exchanges, gambling platforms, or a separate category altogether.
Prediction markets allow users to buy contracts tied to real-world outcomes ranging from the weather to geopolitical events. Their rapid growth has also raised concerns over whether traders with privileged information, such as politicians, could improperly profit from world events.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the broader rise of prediction markets following Van Dyke’s indictment last week.
“The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino,” Trump said. “I don’t like it conceptually, but it is what it is.”
“It’s a crazy world; it’s a much different world than it was,” he added.
TRUMP LAMENTS WORLD BECOMING ‘CASINO’ AFTER SOLDIER CHARGED IN MADURO RAID BET
The plea hearing took place in the same Manhattan federal courthouse where Maduro is also being prosecuted.
Van Dyke was released on bond and is scheduled to return to court on June 8. He is represented by high-profile defense attorneys Mark Geragos and Tina Glandian.
